AgustaWestland case: After Michel, NRI businessman Rajiv Saxena deported to India
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IBNS): In a boost for the Narendra Modi government ahead of the General Elections, NRI businessman Rajiv Saxena, who is an accused in the 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP choper scam scam, has been deported to India, media reports said.
Saxena has been extradited from Dubai to New Delhi. The move would give political ammunition to the BJP to counter the Congress which has launched an unrelenting attack on the Modi government over the Rafale aircraft deal with France.
Besides Rajiv Saxena, corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar was also brought back to India in a special aircraft, media reports said.
Reports said Saxena was earlier summoned by the Enforcement Directorate several times in connection with the case, but he did not cooperate with the Indian investigators.
In December, another accused, Christian Michel, was extradited from Dubai.
It was alleged that Michel had entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons, which included the then IAF chief SP Tyagi and his family members, and government officials had abused their official positions by reducing the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres, at the time when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government was in power.
On Nov 19, a Dubai court upheld a lower court's order that allowed AgustaWestland deal’s alleged middleman Christian James Michael's extradition to India. The Court of Cassation upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited, dismissing appeals filed by his defence lawyers.
That day, Emirati lawyer Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan of Bin Suwaidan Firm for Advocates and Legal Counsels, representing Michel, submitted documents showing that courts in Switzerland and Italy had ruled on not to extradite his client, reported Khaleej Times.
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