What is the AgustaWestland chopper scam?

In what is being seen as a major political coup for the Modi government, Christian James Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore Choppergate scandal was extradited to India and will be tried by a CBI court. Here's all you need to know about the AgustaWestland scam

The 57-year-old British national is an established arms dealer who allegedly helped AgustaWestland - owned by Italian defence company Finmeccanica (now Leornado) - to bag the February 2010 deal for 12 AW101 choppers, mainly meant for VVIP use. The Enforcement Directorate's charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016 accused him of receiving 30 million euros or about Rs 225 crore from the helicopter manufacturer for bribing Indian bureaucrats, politicians and Indian Air Force officials.

The Congress-led UPA government in February 2010 inked a deal to purchase 12 AW101 choppers for the IAF from AgustaWestland for Rs 3,600 crore. These choppers were primarily meant to be used for flying VVIPs like the President of India, the Prime Minister, and others. At the time of the deal, India was using Russian helicopter Mi-8 for ferrying the top brass, which was long found to be obsolete in view of the changing threat perceptions. In fact, as far back as 1999, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, the IAF had reportedly reviewed and recommended the purchase of new choppers.

By 2012, three AW101 helicopters were delivered to the IAF but the following year the Italian police arrested Bruno Spagnolini, then AgustaWestland CEO, and Giuseppe Orsi, the former president of Finmeccanica, on charges of paying bribes to bag the deal with IAF. This led to the UPA regime first putting the deal on hold - keeping the received choppers in mothball status - while ordering a probe into the allegations, followed by the cancellation of the deal in January 2014 citing breach of contractual obligations. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to this scrapped deal. 

Michel's alleged involvement as a middleman in the deal surfaced in 2012. However, he managed to escape. A fresh CBI charge sheet was finally filed against him and nine other accused in September last year and an open non-bailable arrest was subsequently issued against him. On the basis of this warrant, the Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice which finally led to his arrest in Dubai last February. India officially made the request to the Gulf nation for his extradition, based on the criminal investigations conducted in the case by the CBI and the ED, last March.  Michel has reportedly denied all the charges.