AgustaWestland Case: Christian Michel granted 15-minute time in a week to speak to family, lawyers

Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, has been granted 15-minute time in a week to speak to his family and lawyers by a special CBI Court on Monday. Michel is one of the three middlemen -- the two others Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa -- being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate in the case. Last week, India granted consular access to Michel, a British national who was brought here from the UAE last month in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The British High Commission had sought consular access to Michel after he was arrested in the first week of December. Michel, 57, was brought to India following his extradition by the United Arab Emirates in connection with the chopper deal case. At present, he is lodged in the Tihar jail in New Delhi. Michel has denied the charges.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he had received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland. The CBI, in its charge sheet, has alleged an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.