Christian Michel's lawyer is a Congress leader, alleges a BJP leader

A BJP leader today alleged that the lawyer representing Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, is a Congress leader.

Posting a tweet on the micro blogging site, BJP leader Suresh Nakhua said Aljo K Joseph, Christian Michel's lawyer, is the National incharge of the Youth wing of the Congress party.

The allegation can raise many eyebrows as BJP had said that the extradition of Christian Michel was a diplomatic victory for India and could spell "serious trouble" for the Congress' "first family".



Reacting on the matter, Joseph said he is only appeared for Michel in his professional capacity. It has nothing to do with Congress.


On January 1, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with AgustaWestland, a British subsidiary of Finmeccanica, for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received about Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland.

Michel, who is a citizen of United Kingdom, was brought to India late Tuesday night following his extradition by the UAE in connection with the case. He was produced before Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar which allowed discussions between him and his advocate for five minutes.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI. Both the agencies have notified an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

(Inputs from PTI)