AgustaWestland Scam: Christian Michel's revelation points towards a family, says BJP

In a veiled attack at the Congress over AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper Scam case, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said 'middleman' Christian Michel's revealation about the ‘son of Italian lady’, ‘big man’ and ‘R’ to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has pointed towrds a family. In an apparent reference to the Gandhi family, Javadekar further said, "Congress governemnt was a government of corruption that compromised with the national security".

Early in the day, in a major breakthrough to the AgustaWestland case, the ED has informed Delhi's Patiala House Court that 'middleman' Michel has named "Mrs Gandhi" and "the son of the Italian lady" in connection to the multi-crore VVIP chopper scam during the tenure of the UPA government in 2010. However, the probe agency is yet to decipher that in what reference Michel took the name of the two.

Union Min Prakash Javadekar on ED says Christian Michel spoke about 'son of Italian lady': Revelations by ED show that there is ‘son of Italian lady’,‘big man’&‘R’ involved. It points towards a family. Congress govt was a govt of corruption that compromised with national security pic.twitter.com/LqGRuSGoDv

— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2018

Read | 'Big man - R', 'son of Italian lady': Know what middleman Christian Michel told ED in 5 points

However, the Congress has countered those charges, saying that PM Narendra Modi was 'pressuring the agencies to name a person in the case'. Addressing a press confenrence, party spokesperson RPN Singh said, "As per law, the first thing a person gets is a lawyer... But they don't allow him to meet the lawyer, so you know what kind of a case is going on. We have seen what the BJP is doing here".

"Why does the Chowkidar against whom there is proof pressurize agencies to name a person? The person who has done the biggest chori cannot be spared," Singh added.

Following this major breakthrough in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scam case, the court has sent Michel to seven-day ED remand. The hearing in AgustaWestland case is currently underway.

Read | Christian Michel has pressure to name a particular family: Congress on AgustaWestland case

Michel was brought to India following his extradition by the UAE in early December and kept at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi under heavy security overnight. The subsequent day he was produced in Delhi's Patiala House Court where lawyer Aljo K Joseph who is representing Michel moved a bail plea.