AgustaWestland: Lawyer who represented Christian Michel expelled from Indian Youth Congress

Hours after appearing for British businessman Christian Michel, the middleman in the Agusta Westland scam, Advocate Aljo K Joseph has been expelled from his position as the National in-charge of Indian Youth Congress’ legal department..“Aljo K Joseph appeared in his personal capacity. He did not consult the 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.”, a circular signed by Amrish Ranjan Pandey, National Spokesperson IYC reads..Michel is said to have helped the Italian Defence Company AgustaWestland grab the deal for 12 AW-101 choppers during the Congress party led-UPA era in 2010. For the said deal, Michel allegedly received over Euro 30 million from the helicopter manufacturer for bribing Congress party leaders, bureaucrats, politicians as well as defence officials..Therefore, an Advocate associated with the Congress Party representing Michel attracted a lot of criticism..Soon after, Joseph took to social media to clarify that he appeared for Michel in his personal capacity as a lawyer..“I appeared in a Bail application for Christian James Michelle as part of legal team in my personal capacity as a lawyer. I was briefed by Sriram Parakkat and MS Vishu Shankar, advocates of the Supreme Court in this case. It has nothing to do with the Congress party. As a professional and a practising lawyer, I have appeared”, the statement read..Advocate Sriram P also confirmed the same to Bar & Bench stating that he had engaged Joseph to appear for Michel before the Patiala House Court..Given the political ramifications the incident could have, the Youth Wing of the Congress Party did not waste any time in distancing itself from Joseph as well as Michel..Read the Circular:.Image Courtesy: ANI