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Updated: Apr 05, 2019 18:26 IST

The Congress on Friday termed the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet against Christian Michel mentioning the names of senior Congress leaders, as “rehashed insinuations, lies, and cheap election stunt”. The ED had on Thursday filed a supplementary chargesheet against the Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicoper case.

“A panic-stricken Modi government and its puppet ED will not be able to change its exit date and fate. The Prime Minister has already been rejected by the people,” Randeep Surjewala, the Congress spokesperson said.

Reacting to Surjewala, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, at a press conference, hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and questioned Gandhi’s “silence” over the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Christian Michel.

“When no reply is given to such serious allegations then the country is entitled to presume that no reply can be given,” Jaitley told a press conference in New Delhi adding, “Are RG, AP, FAM are imaginary persons?”

The supplementary chargesheet filed on Thursday evening mentions that AP stands for Ahmed Patel, while FAM stood for family.

“The right to silence is available to an accused not to a prime ministerial aspirant,” said Jaitley targeting Gandhi.

Earlier in the day, Michel told a Delhi court that he has not named anybody in connection with the deal during investigation by the ED. The central agency on Thursday filed a supplementary chargesheet that contained names of politicians of the previous UPA dispensation.

But Jaitley countered the Congress’s charge saying, “The evidence is overwhelming. The needle of suspicion is clear and if no answer is given, it means there is no answer that can be offered.”

Also read | In ED’s supplementary chargesheet in Agusta Westland case, Christian Michel’s partner named as accused