UK legal team takes Michel case to UN alleging 'torture' by India

London: A UK-based legal team on behalf of AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case accused Christian Michel has approached the UN, alleging that he was "unlawfully" handed over to India where he has been held in "squalid conditions" in violation of human rights and subjected to "torture".

Michel is currently being held in judicial custody in Delhi's Tihar Jail and in the latest court intervention in India, the Delhi High Court granted more time to him and the CBI to respond to a plea by Tihar Jail authorities challenging an order allowing him to make international phone calls in violation of prison rules.

Michel was arrested by the ED and later by the CBI in a bribery case related to the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland deal dating back to 2010. He is among three alleged middlemen being probed in the case.

London-based specialist barristers' chambers 'Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers' claimed that the 57-year-old British national was "unlawfully" handed over to the Indian government as part of a quid pro quo following the Indian authorities' alleged involvement in the abduction of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al Maktoum and her return to the UAE in March 2018. pti