New Delhi: The Patiala House Court in Delhi directed the Tihar jail authorities to produce CCTV record of February 13 to 17 of Jail no. 7 on the allegations of torture and humiliation levied by alleged AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel. The next date of hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 19.

Speaking before a Delhi court, the Tihar jail authorities on Thursday, however, denied the accusations of torture levelled by Christian Michel. The authorities told Special Judge Arvind Kumar that the accused was granted all the facilities mentioned in the jail manual.

The court had on March 11 allowed the ED to quiz Michel inside Tihar jail after the agency’s lawyer Samvedna Verma told the court that new facts have emerged in the case which needs his questioning. On March 12, Michel told the court that former CBI special director Rakesh Asthana met him in Dubai and threatened to ‘make his life hell inside jail’ here if he did not toe the line of the agency.

Meanwhile, on March 14, the ED attached the immovable property of Christian Michel‘s ex-wife in France. The property is in the name of M/s SCI Solaime at 45 Avenue Victor Hugo, Paris, and belongs to Valerie Michel, Christian Michel’s ex-wife.

Michel was extradited from the UAE in December 2018. He was arrested by the ED under the money laundering law. Michel is one of the three alleged middlemen who is probed in the Rs 3,600-crore case by ED and CBI. The other middlemen involved in the case include are foreign nationals such as Guido Haschke and Carlos Gerosa. The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received about Rs 225 crores from AgustaWestland, the manufacturer of the helicopters.

(With agency inputs)