AgustaWestland: Court extends CBI custody of Christian Michel
New Delhi, Dec 15 (IBNS): A court on Saturday extended the custody of alleged middleman in the Rs. 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam Christian Michel by four more days.
He was presented to the court after his custody ended.
The court will hear his bail plea on Dec 19.
He was extradited to India from Dubai a few days back.
Michel’s extradition comes six years after his alleged involvement in the purchase of VVIP helicopters first surfaced in 2012.
It was alleged that he had entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons, which included the then IAF chief SP Tyagi and his family members, and government officials had abused their official positions by reducing the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres, at the time when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government was in power.
On Nov 19, a Dubai court upheld a lower court's order that allowed AgustaWestland deal’s alleged middleman Christian James Michael's extradition to India. The Court of Cassation upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited, dismissing appeals filed by his defence lawyers, media reports said.
That day, Emirati lawyer Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan of Bin Suwaidan Firm for Advocates and Legal Counsels, representing Michel, submitted documents showing that courts in Switzerland and Italy had ruled on not to extradite his client, reported Khaleej Times.
Last year, Christian was arrested in the UAE.
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