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UK legal team approaches UN to protect Christian Michel from alleged torture

A BRITISH legal team has approached the UN on behalf of UK businessman Christian Michel over alleged human rights violence in India’s Tihar jail. 

UK lawyers have argued that Michel was "unlawfully extradited to India" from the UAE and that he has been held in prison in "squalid conditions" in violation of human rights and also "subjected to torture".


Michel is an accused in a bribery case related to the £398.18 million AgustaWestland deal of 2010. 

India's federal probe agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has alleged there was an estimated loss of €398.21 million to the country's exchequer in the deal that was agreed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP helicopters worth €556.262m.

The British national is one among three alleged middlemen being investigated in the case. He denies the charges.

 “Having been returned to India, Michel has been held in squalid conditions that breach human rights conditions, subjected to prolonged questioning aimed at securing a confession through coercion,” the legal team alleged.  

UK- based specialist barristers’ chambers ‘Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers’ said Michel was unlawfully handed over to India. 

He is being held in judicial custody in Delhi’s Tihar jail.  

The Delhi High Court granted more time to Michel and the CBI to respond to a plea by the Tihar Jail officials questioning an order permitting him to make international phone calls in violation of jail rules and regulations. 

Last year, Michel was detained by the country’s law enforcement and economic intelligence agency, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and later by the CBI. 

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This also aligns with US sanctions on major Russian oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil, set to take effect on Friday.

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Reliance halts Russian oil imports at export refinery amid global pressure

Highlights

  • Reliance Industries has stopped importing Russian crude oil for its export-only refining unit at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
  • The European Union has barred the import of fuel made from Russian crude, starting January 2026.
  • India's crude oil imports from Russia have surged from 2.5 per cent before the 2022 Ukraine war to around 35.8 per cent in 2024-25.
Reliance Industries, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has stopped importing Russian crude oil for its export-only refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Reliance said the move aims to comply with an EU ban on fuel imports made from Russian oil through third countries, which takes effect next year. It also aligns with US sanctions on major Russian oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil, set to take effect on Friday.

"This transition has been completed ahead of schedule to ensure full compliance with product-import restrictions coming into force on 21 January 2026," Reliance said in a statement.

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