No communication from UAE on AgustaWestland case: MEA

The External Affairs Ministry Thursday said it has not received any communication from the UAE government about the case related to AgustaWestland chopper deal middleman Christian Michel in a Dubai court.

Some media reports had said a Dubai court court ordered Michel's extradition to India, but sources had later indicated there was no such specific court order.

"We have not received any intimation from the UAE government about the case," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said here at a press press briefing.

The CBI had said Wednesday it was awaiting confirmation from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on reports about extradition of Michel, who is wanted in India in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal scam, from the UAE.

The External Affairs Ministry had asked its embassy in the UAE to find out all the details relating to the issue.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Both the agencies had notified an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with 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.

The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.