Aljo K Joseph, Who Appeared For Christian Michel in AgustaWestland Case, Expelled From Congress
Joseph accepted that he was associated with the Congress but clarified that he appeared in the case in his personal and professional capacity.
New Delhi, December 5: The Indian Youth Congress expelled lawyer Aljo K Joseph, who appeared as a counsel for British national Christian Michel in a CBI court in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case on Wednesday, from the party. Distancing itself from Alijo Joseph, the youth wing of the Congress party said he appeared for Christian Michel in his personal capacity.
"Aljo K Joseph appeared in his personal capacity. He didn't consult Youth Congress before appearing in the case. IYC does NOT endorse such actions.IYC has removed Aljo Joseph from IYC’s Legal Department and expelled him from the party with immediate effect," Amrish Ranjan Pandey, spokesperson of the Indian Youth Congress said in a statement. AgustaWestland Case: CBI Special Court Sends Christian Michel to Five-day CBI Custody.
Earlier today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targetted the Congress after it surfaced that Joseph was a member of Indian Youth Congress's legal department. The political controversy started after Suresh Nakhua, spokesperson of the BJP's Mumbai unit, tweeted that Joseph was national in-charge of the legal department of Indian Youth Congress.
"Any guesses who is lawyer for Christian Michel? Mr Aljo K Joseph, National incharge, legal department, Indian Youth Congress (Youth wing of Cong led by out on bail Rahul Gandhi) (sic)," Nakhua tweeted. Soon after, In-charge of BJP's IT department Amit Malviya tweeted: "Meet the Congressman who is going to defend AgustaWestland 'middleman' Christian Michel... Does it get more obvious than that?."
Reacting to it, Joseph accepted that he was associated with the Congress but clarified that he appeared in the case in his personal and professional capacity. "I am an advocate and appeared in my personal capacity. If somebody asks me to appear on his behalf, I have discharged only my duty as a lawyer. This has nothing to do with Congress. My relationship with Congress is separate and my professional relation is separate," Joseph said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 05, 2018 09:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).