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Christian Michel pleaded before the court on Friday that he has not named any politician or bureaucrat in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate which is investigating the
AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. Christian Michel pleaded before the court on Friday that he has not named any politician or bureaucrat in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate which
is investigating the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. The ED had told the court on Thursday that Michel, arrested after being accused of helping broker the chopper deal with the help of
kickbacks, had named a Congress leader, identified by his initials 'AP' in a 'budget sheet'. The budget sheet contains details of payments made to various people,
including politicians, in connection with the deal. The identity of the said Ahmed Patel is not clear. Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar issued a notice to the probing agency and sought its
reply in the next case hearing on Saturday. Michel's counsel, Aljo K Joseph, has stated in the application: "The endower of the prosecution and the agencies by supplying the
documents to the media is to influence and create a hostile perception. Being a citizen of another country, such hostile remarks may curtail the rights of the applicant to ensure a free and
fair trial." The plea also stated Michel was not provided a copy of the supplementary charge sheet filed by ED on Thursday, which was leaked to the media, without the court taking
cognisance of it. Michel, a British national extradited from Dubai in December, is one of the three middlemen being investigated for organising bribes to push the deal with decision-makers
in India. The other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Friday, "A single uncertified page leaked by Enforcement Directorate of a
purported charge sheet is a cheap election stunt to divert attention from imminent defeat of BJP. ED has now become 'Election Dhakosla' of a party and the government that is
manufacturing a lie a day. All these lies were bundled out earlier through a set of reliable media, both print and electronic." ED had told the court on Thursday that Michel and other
accused received 42 million euros as kickbacks in the defence deal. On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for
supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.
ALLEGATIONS MADE BY ED * During questioning, Michel said 'AP' stands for Ahmed Patel and 'Fam' stands for Family in his diary' * Code words relate to alleged
kickbacks of 30 million euros paid to IAF and defence officials, bureaucrats, and 'top political leaders of ruling party' at the time * Payments routed through 'complex
structure' and withdrawn in cash through 'hawala' route