AgustaWestland: Christian Michel remanded to 7 days’ ED custody, CBI Court rejects bail application

The Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court today remanded British businessman Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland case to seven days of custody with Enforcement Directorate (ED)..The Court also rejected Michel’s bail application in the CBI case..“..considering the overall facts and circumstances, the serious nature of allegations, gravity of offence and the fact that investigation is at a crucial stage, I do not consider it to be a fit case for grant of bail.”, the Court stated in the order..The Court rejected Michel’s argument that the he has already been exonerated by the Italian Court in the case, and hence the Indian Authorities must accept it..“..it is clear that the accused was not the party in those (Italian Court’s) proceedings. The offence alleged to have been committed by the accused is within the jurisdiction of this Court.”.The bail order also records that during Michel’s custodial interrogation, “some new facts have emerged which require examination of concerned witnesses and collection of relevant documents.”.The order was pronounced by Special CBI judge Arvind Kumar after the ED arrested Michel in the afternoon upon his production before the CBI Court..Michel was sent to judicial custody earlier this week after spending 14 days in CBI custody. The ED had yesterday moved an application seeking his production before the Court..Special Public Prosecutor DP Singh, appearing for ED, sought Michel’s custody to investigate the money laundering aspect of the AgustaWestland case, and to confront him with several witness..“We are aware that the investigation leads to Euro 30 million and CBI’s is over Euro 37 million. We need to cover this gap“, SPP for ED DP Singh informed court..ED contended that the money had not come through official channels, but through hawala transactions. He further explained that the CBI stops at “this money has come“, but the trail of money has to be investigated by ED..He also said that ED needed Michel’s custody to unearth the nexus between Haschke, Gautam Khaitan and him..Advocate Vishnu Shankar, appearing for Michel objected to him being sent to ED custody and argued that the ED and CBI should have done a joint investigation..Arguing that Michel is entitled to protection under Article 21 of the Constitution, Shankar alleged that intention of the investigating agencies was mala fide..Procedural tools should not be used to keep him under prolonged custody, Shankar said..He also contended that CBI and ED are only seeking a confession from Michel..Rebutting all claims, DP Singh submitted that Michel was never mistreated by CBI during his custody or asked to give a confession..“Allegation of mala fide is baseless. Exercising my right to interrogate is not malice“, Singh argued..He also informed the Court that no joint investigation was possible since CBI and ED operate in different spheres..After being extradited to India, Michel was produced before the Patiala House Court on December 5. The Court had initially sent him to CBI custody for five days. On subsequent hearings, the custody was extended for another five days, and then four more days..Read the orders: