Being lodged with gangster Chotta Rajan and other militants is not the only problem Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland deal, has got with Indian jails. Michel has asked the jail authorities to give him boiled eggs, bread and cheese. The UK citizen is apparently missing his European breakfast.
Michel has also told the special CBI court that he is not getting salads and fruits to eat in the high security jail in Tihar. Sources said that Michel had initially relished the Indian breads and curries offered by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate during his custodial interrogation and the same food continued after he was lodged in jail.
It has been three months since Michel was extradited to India in December. Incidentally, during these three months, not much has also progressed in the CBI case against Michel. A supplementary charge-sheet has not been filed in the case so far while Michel is proving a hard nut to crack, according to investigators.
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The ED has started questioning Michel in jail. He was grilled for four hours on Wednesday. The ED is learnt to be keen on asking him about the documents and other information regarding the alleged money trail. However, Michel has been claiming that he has none in his possession and whatever documents exist are in foreign jurisdictions like Italy, the sources said.
On Tuesday, Michel's case took a curious turn after he claimed before the special CBI court that he had met then CBI special director Rakesh Asthana in Dubai who allegedly warned him that his life would be made hell in jail if he did not cooperate with the agency.
Asthana was heading the CBI's Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was handling the Agusta case and Michel’s extradition matter.
Terming Michel’s claims as preposterous, sources said it was the accused middleman who had written to the probe agency asking for his questioning to be conducted in Dubai. Since that was not even considered by the CBI, “where is the question of a meeting”, the sources said.
The CBI had felt that an accused cannot decide on the time and place of questioning. The matter was left there and Michel could not convince the probe agency, sources said. In 2017, the crucial extradition proceedings of Michel were still underway in Dubai. After successful diplomacy, the agency was finally successful in extraditing Michel in December 2018.
The claims of Michel have incidentally come after his extradition from Dubai.
Indian jails have gained notoriety in the past in the UK courts where a number of accused in separate cases have cited the poor condition of prison to avoid extradition. However, Michel got no chance to take up the condition of Indian jails at that juncture as his extradition was sudden and quick.
