AgustaWestland scam: VVIP chopper deal middleman Christian Michel lands in India; to be produced in court today

Christian Michel, the British national accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, was extradited to India from UAE on Tuesday. He was brought in a private jet belonging to the UAE government from Dubai. The flight landed at the Delhi airport around 11:00 pm on Tuesday. He will be produced before a CBI special judge's court in New Delhi later today.

Christian Michel is the main accused in the VVIP chopper scam. He will be kept at the CBI headqaurters for tonight, where he is likely to be interrogated, suggest reports.

BJP Chief Amit Shah will hold a press conference regarding the arrest of the high-profile middleman at 10.50 am in Jaipur on Wednesday. The Indian government pursued the matter related to Christian Michel's extradition closely and worked with the UAE authorities to expedite the process.

Even as Christian Michel, 54, was extradited to India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is still in Dubai. She was there to attend the 12th session of India-UAE Joint Commission meeting on Wednesday. The move to extradite Michel comes after the courts in Dubai said Michel could be extradited and upheld the lower court order, dismissing appeals filed by his defence lawyers.

Michel, who's a British national, has been accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of receiving about Euro 30 million (approximately Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland to influence the deal in its favour. His involvement in the 12 VVIP helicopter deal surfaced in 2012 when he was accused of swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal payment of kickback to the Indian authorities.

Initially, the investigation conducted by the Italian authorities indicted him for the offences of international bribery. After the CBI took up the case, he fled from India. Apart from Michel, the other two accused being probed by the agencies in the case are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

An Interpol red corner notice (RCN) was notified against Christian Michel in November 2015 after the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him. He was arrested by the UAE authorities in February 2017, following which the CBI filed chargesheet in the court in September 2017 against Christian Michel and 11 other suspects.

The CBI's request for his extradition was forwarded to the UAE authorities in March 2017.

India had scrapped 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland in January 2014 over the breach of contractual obligations and the charges of paying Rs 423 crore kickbacks. Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi was also arrested over the allegations of reducing the flying ceiling of the helicopter to put AgustaWestland in the race.