Gandhi family shares deep friendship with Michel: Amit Shah

New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) Accusing the Gandhi family of having a "time-tested and deep" friendship with arrested British national Christian James Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, BJP President Amit Shah on Monday sought to know why Michel passed on the details of questioning on Mrs Gandhi, an apparent reference to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, to his lawyer. 

"Does anyone know why Christian Michel passed on the details of questioning on Mrs Gandhi to his Lawyer? Did he want them to be passed on to Mrs Gandhi herself? Why?" Shah asked on Twitter referring to a slip being passed by Michel to his lawyer Aljo Joseph in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody which referred to a set of questions related to "Mrs Gandhi".

His remarks came after the ED brought in the name of ‘Mrs Gandhi’ and ‘big man R’, an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi and her son and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in a special court when it got a seven-day extension of custody of Michel.

"Michel’s lawyer has admitted that the paper was indeed passed on to him. He thought that it was a list of medicines, which could have been transparently given in any case. We have heard of Zandu Balm and Tiger Balm but what is this ‘Family Balm’ that every middleman wants," Shah said in a series of tweets.

He also attacked the Congress for "temporarily" suspending its party leader Aljo Joseph, who is representing Michel in the court.

"In any case, what must be told again and again is the Congress background of Michel’s lawyer. The so-called expulsion remains a sham. He remains the conduit between Michel and Mrs Gandhi," he said.

"In national interest, Michel’s lawyer must tell us about the existence of documents of 2008, which make a reference to Mrs Gandhi. Evidently, the friendship between Michel and one family in India is time tested and deep," he added.