Youth Congress expels lawyer who appeared for Christian Michel in court

A lawyer who appeared as a counsel for British national Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 36 billion AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, in court on Wednesday, has been expelled by the Youth Congress.

In a tweet, Krishna Allavaru, Joint Secretary of All India Congress Committee, said, "Aljo K Joseph appeared in his personal capacity. He did not consult the Youth Congress before appearing in the case. IYC does NOT endorse such actions. IYC has removed Aljo Joseph from IYC's Legal Department and expelled him from the party with immediate effect."

The row started after Suresh Nakhua, Spokesperson of the BJP's Mumbai unit, tweeted that Aljo K Joseph, who appeared for the Michel, was national incharge of the legal department of Indian Youth Congress.

"Any guesses who is lawyer for Christian Michel? Mr Aljo K Joseph, National incharge, legal department, Indian Youth Congress (Youth wing of Cong led by out on bail Rahul Gandhi)," he tweeted.

Soon after, In-charge of BJP's national Information and Technology department Amit Malviya tweeted: "Meet the Congressman who is going to defend AgustaWestland 'middleman' Christian Michel... Does it get more obvious than that?."

Reacting to it, Joseph accepted that he was associated with the Congress but clarified that he appeared in the case in his personal and professional capacity.

"I am an advocate and appeared in my personal capacity. If somebody asks me to appear on his behalf, I have discharged only my duty as a lawyer. This has nothing to do with Congress. My relationship with Congress is separate and my professional relation is separate," Joseph said.