VVIP chopper case: Have not named anyone, says Michel

Christian Michel, the alleged middleman arrested in the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam, told a Delhi court Friday that he has not named anybody in connection with the deal during investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, which has filed a supplementary chargesheet.

Michel, who alleged that the central government was using agencies for a political agenda, filed an application after reports appeared that the ED, in its chargesheet, has named politicians of the previous UPA dispensation, defence personnel, bureaucrats and journalists as the beneficiaries of the controversial defence deal.

Michel’s counsel appeared with the application before Special Judge Arvind Kumar, who issued notice to the probe agency and sought a reply by Saturday.

The plea said that even though the court has not taken cognisance over the documents filed before it, in order to make the entire case a sensation again in the media, the ED had supplied the chargesheet to the media. “Michel has not named anyone in his statement... This is only to make the matter sensational and prejudice the case against my client,” his counsel, Aljo K Joseph said.

He claimed the copy of the chargesheet, which was filed on Thursday, was provided to the media before it was provided to Michel.

The plea said selective portions of the chargesheet have been published in the media which make it clear that the ED was not interested in a fair trial in a court of law but in a trial by media.

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