CBI lands AgustaWestland middleman, Christian Michel to open can of worms?
New Delhi: In what will be a major boost to the Narendra Modi Government, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday evening extradited alleged British middleman Christian James Michel to India in the Rs 3,546 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.
The extradition could see Michel make the political explosive revelations that name politicians and bureaucrats who may have been paid bribes to clinch the deal during the tenure of the previous UPA-2 Government. The country heads for general elections in less than six months.
The move also comes even as the main Opposition Congress---that led the previous UPA-2 Government---is turning the heat on the Modi Government over the Rafale deal with France.
The extradition of the 54 year old middleman in an operation under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, was confirmed by the CBI on Tuesday after Michel had been put on a plane to India from Dubai, where he had been detained for several months.
"Christian Michel entered into criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons and in pursuance thereof, the public servants had abused their official positions by reduction of service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres and a contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million was awarded to AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL), UK by the government of India through Ministry of Defence on 08.02.2010 for the procurement of 12 VVIP/non VVIP helicopters," CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here. "Michel, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland case is being extradited by the UAE authorities to India.
Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by in-charge Director CBI M Nageswara Rao," he said. A team of the agency's officers led by Joint Director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back.
