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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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Highlights

  • Average UK house price rose 0.3 per cent in October to £272,226, down from 0.5 per cent growth in September.
  • Annual house price growth edged up to 2.4 per cent, with market remaining resilient despite mortgage rates being double pre-pandemic levels.
  • Buyers delaying purchases amid speculation that November budget could introduce new property taxes on homes worth over £500,000.
British house prices grew at a slower pace in October as buyers adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the government's budget announcement on 26 November, according to data from mortgage lender Nationwide.

The average house price increased by 0.3 per cent month-on-month in October to £272,226, down from a 0.5 per cent rise in September. Despite the monthly slowdown, annual house price growth accelerated slightly to 2.4 per cent, up from 2.2 per cent in the previous month.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the market had demonstrated broad stability in recent months. "Against a backdrop of subdued consumer confidence and signs of weakening in the labour market, this performance indicates resilience, especially since mortgage rates are more than double the level they were before Covid struck and house prices are close to all-time highs".

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