A Dubai court has ordered for the extradition of British national and alleged middleman Christian Michel in the Rs 36 billion Agusta Westland VVIP choppers deal case, official sources said late Tuesday. They said the court pronounced the judgement Tuesday after India had officially made the request to the gulf nation sometime back, based on the criminal investigations conducted in this case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The full contents of the order against Christian Michel James (54) are expected to be known by tomorrow as the legal pronouncement is in Arabic and is being translated in English at the behest of Indian authorities, they said. The order is being seen as a major shot in the arm to the agencies — Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED -- probing the case.
The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 2.25 billion) from AgustaWestland. The money was nothing but "kickbacks" paid by the firm to execute the 12 helicopter deal in favour of the firm in "guise of" of genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country, it had said. PTI
