Named Sonia Gandhi as 'driving force', only met S P Tyagi, says Agusta middleman Michel

Michel also told NDTV that he has to prove the innocence of the Gandhis to prove his innocence

James Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, has told NDTV that he had in fact, in 2008, described Congress President Sonia Gandhi in a letter as "the driving force" behind the deal to acquire the choppers.

However, Michel also clarified that he did not personally know Gandhi or her son and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. 

In a May 11 interview with India Today TV, Michel maintained that he had never met Sonia or Rahul Gandhi. He added that he had not met then prime minister Manmohan Singh or then defence minister AK Antony either.

Michel also insisted that his written suggestion that they be lobbied by diplomats does not mean that bribes were paid to them. 

Responding to a question about his comments that the Gandhis had no part to play in the scandal surrounding the deal, Michel said: "I have to protect the Gandhis to protect myself." Speaking to NDTV, he added, "I have to prove they are innocent to prove my innocence."

Late last month, in an interview with the Hindu, Michel had offered himself up for interrogation by Indian authorities. Even then he had maintained that he had never met a member of the Gandhi family in his life. 

Michel's name has been thrown up again since reports on a recent judgement by the Italian Court of Appeals cited a note from a middleman reportedly describing the Congress president as the "driving force" behind the chopper deal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party lost no time in latching on to the note and mounting a political offencive against Gandhi. In no time, battle-lines were drawn and the issue seems to be far from over.  

Italian marines connection: 

Speaking to NDTV, Michel also stood by his earlier claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered to release the two Italian marines imprisoned in India on murder charges in exchange for information linking the Gandhi family to the AgustaWestland deal.  

According to Michel, the prime minister made this offer last year during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi in New York.

Earlier this year, the Telegraph and Outlook India magazine reported that Michel had accused the current Indian government of "offering Italy the freedom" of the two marines accused of killing Indian fishermen in exchange for information linking Sonia Gandhi and her family to the chopper scam. 

Michel has made these claims, according to the reports, in a letter to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Seas in Hamburg and the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. 

Meeting SP Tyagi:  

During the India Today TV interview, the middleman said the only person related to the chopper deal that he has ever met is former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi. Speaking to the channel, Michel said: "I probably met him at Delhi's Gymkhana Club at a social event." 

Tyagi is one of the main accused in the scandal and was questioned by investigating agencies earlier this month.

In March, 2013, the Central Bureau of Investigation said that it had found evidence against Tyagi that suggested that he had extended favours to AgustaWestland by changing specification requirements for the VVIP choppers. The agency registered a first information report (FIR) against Tyagi, besides 12 others.

The FIR also named three of Tygai's relatives — Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep. 

The allegation against the former IAF chief was that he had reduced the flight ceiling of the prospective helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres (15,000 feet), ostensibly to help AgustaWestland's case.