No point in fearing that I will flee: Michel

Seeking bail, Christian Michel, a suspected middleman in AgustaWestland scam, has claimed that there was no point in fearing that he will leave the country once freed as all his travel documents have been seized by the CBI.

In his application for bail submitted before Special CBI judge Arvind Kumar on Wednesday, Michel has claimed that the allegations levelled by the CBI were "absolutely false and baseless" and nothing incriminating is to be recovered either from his possession or at his instance.

Michel's lawyers, however, had urged the court keep this petition pending. The court has not set a date for hearing the bail plea while sending Michel, who was arrested after his extradition from Dubai on Tuesday night, to five days CBI custody.

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His lawyers are preparing a detailed petition to place before the court countering the CBI claims when Michel will be produced before the judge next Monday as the custody ends.

In the application, Michel has said that he undertakes to abide by "each and every condition" imposed by the court while granting him bail. "....as such there are no chances of his absconding or tampering with the prosecution evidence...That all the travel documents of the petitioner have been seized by the CBI, so the petitioner cannot leave the country in the absence of his travel documents," it said.

However, CBI sources had earlier claimed that Michel had attempted to escape dressed in a skull cap and 'salwar kameez' from Dubai recently to prevent his handing over to Indian authorities. CBI sources said they would oppose the bail plea as his continued interrogation is needed for finding out the money trail and beneficiaries.

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Michel also claimed in his application has that there is nothing incriminating to be recovered from his possession or at his instance. He said the CBI or Enforcement Directorate (ED) have not produced any evidence neither before the UAE court, which could connect him to with the alleged offences.

He also claimed that he was not needed for further investigation as the probe is almost complete. "However, the petitioner is ready and willing to join and cooperate in the investigation, if any, as and when directed by the investigating agency," the application said.

"The CBI will take sufficient long time in filing the chargesheet in the court, so no useful purpose will be served by keeping the petitioner in any custody rather it will adversely affect his effective defence," it said.