New Delhi, December 29: The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday told the Patiala House Court that alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, Christian James Michel, has named senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. However, the central probing agency denied to state the reference to the court.

The ED presented Michel in the sessions court after his seven-day remand ended today. The ED in its reply told the Delhi's Patiala House court that Michel has identified how HAL was removed from the deal and Tata was offered the deal. Adding more, it stated that Michel's lawyer should not be allowed the access to meet him as he is allegedly being tortured from outside. AgustaWestland Case: 'Middleman' Christian Michel Sent to 7-Day ED Remand.

Updating the status of the probe, ED officials told the court that Christian Michel spoke about “the son of the Italian lady” and how he is going to become the “next prime minister of the country. The probing agency said, "We need to decipher who the “big man” referred to as “R” is in the communication between Christian Michel and other people. We need to confront Michel with other people to decipher who “the big man” or “R” is."

After listening to the arguments, Special Judge Arvind Kumar sent Christen Michel to a seven-day ED remand. The court also orders Christian Michel’s lawyers to maintain a  distance while meeting him and restricted the time limit of lawyers to meet Michel to 15 minutes every morning and evening.

Earlier, the court had on December 22 sent Michel to a 7-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand, which ended today. The court had awarded Michel judicial custody, obtained by the CBI, which also ends on December 28.

Previously, Michel's lawyers have sought a bail plea from the court, but was denied. Michel is an alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore scandal, dating back to 2010. Other than the Agusta Westland Case, the ED had sought Michel's arrest in a money-laundering case.

Michel was arrested in the UAE and extradited to India on December 4. The very next day, the CBI presented him in the court and was sent to a five-day custodial interrogation by the CBI, which was extended by five more days, and later for another four days. Reserving the order, the court sent him to judicial custody till December 28. Other than Michel, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa are the two alleged middlemen in the case.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 29, 2018 04:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).