NEW DELHI: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Wednesday termed the order of a Dubai court to extradite British national Christian Michel, who is an alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal case, as a positive development and said the news has created a “sense of unease” in some leaders here.
Official sources Tuesday said that the court pronounced the judgment after India officially made the request to the Gulf nation sometime back, based on the criminal investigations conducted in this case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Responding to a question on the Dubai court order, Prasad said, “It is a good development.”
“But I must point out that I notice a profound sense of unease in some leaders,” he said in an oblique reference to the Congress party.
The order is being seen as a major shot in the arm for the agencies — 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 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
The money was nothing but “kickbacks” paid by the firm to execute the 12 helicopter deal in favor of the firm in “guise of” genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country, it had said.
Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI. Both the agencies have notified an Interpol red corner notice against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant. PTI
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