As Sir Keir Starmer toasted what he called a “historic day” for British-Indian relations at Chequers on Thursday, just yards from Downing Street two young Britons stood with posters taped to their jackets and baggage.
Alois Christian Michel and his sister Alienor were not protesting a government policy or trade deal. They were pleading for the freedom of their father Christian Michel.
Christian, a British national, has spent seven years incarcerated in Tihar Jail without trial. Despite bail orders from both the Delhi High Court and India’s Supreme Court, he remains imprisoned after failing to meet the conditions determined for his release, leaving him trapped in a legal and political limbo.
Alois, who gave an exclusive interview to The Independent during the protest with his sister, said they have lost patience with successive UK governments.
“The UK government has miserably failed to address human rights violations across Commonwealth countries, particularly in India,” says Alois, 27. “A British national such as my father has now been illegally detained by Indian authorities for seven years, yet neither the previous government nor the present one has taken any concrete action against this inhumane conduct.”
Their protest took place at the same time as Sir Keir and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi were meeting to sign a sweeping trade agreement worth £6bn in investment that is expected to boost Britain’s GDP by nearly £5bn.
Referring to British officials, Alois says: “They say they’ll ‘raise interest’ in the case. After seven years, is that all? It’s ridiculous.”
Michel, a businessman and consultant, was extradited from Dubai to India in 2018 over allegations he acted as a middleman in a 2010 defence deal involving Italian firm AgustaWestland. Indian investigators allege bribes were paid to secure a £322m contract to supply helicopters – charges he denies.
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India’s legal system is notoriously slow and overburdened, which is why it has a law stipulating that a suspect must be released from prison once they have served half of what would have been the maximum sentence if they were convicted. In Michel’s case that was seven years, meaning he should have been released midway through 2021.
His lawyers argue he should be freed unconditionally – instead, the courts have granted him bail while investigators continue to probe his case. It means that Michel remains in prison because he cannot meet the stringent conditions imposed. He has no address in India, no family members in the country, and no one willing to act as a guarantor – factors that have rendered the bail order effectively meaningless.
At a hearing in April, Michel revealed to the court that the only person willing to vouch for him was Jo Johnson, former MP and brother to former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Back in London, his children remain cut off from their father, their only contact being brief, choked phone calls.
“The last time I spoke to him was last weekend. Less than 10 seconds,” Alois said. “That’s all we get. I haven’t seen him in nearly seven and a half years.”
He was just 20 when his father was extradited. “I was in the middle of my studies. Everything just stopped,” he recalls. “Emotionally, financially, it’s been really tough. And for my sister… she was just a teenager when our father was taken away.”
The siblings have never visited their father in India. The reason, Alois says, is fear.
“He’s in Tihar prison. I would like to see him, but how much am I risking by going there? In a country that doesn’t follow its own laws, they could arrest me too – use me as leverage with my father,” he says. “It’s too dangerous. And I won’t have me put in a position where my father is forced to do anything because of my arrest in India.”
They have justification to be concerned. Michel has alleged two separate attempts on his life in prison, claiming that a hired killer confessed to being paid to assassinate him. Despite his appeals, no meaningful investigation was launched, he claims.
“A professional killer tried to kill me twice,” Michel told The Independent during an earlier court appearance. “He was paid money, and they never investigated who paid him or why.”
Michel’s legal team argues that the entire case is politically motivated, a claim that gained traction after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled in 2021 that his detention was arbitrary and called for his immediate release.
“The United Nations has said he should be released. Indian law states he should be released. And yet, here we are,” says Michel’s son. “All we’re asking is for the Indian government to follow its own laws. And for the UK government to hold them to it.”
“We really just desperately want something to happen,” says Alois. “Some people wait in hope. In our case, we wait in despair.”
As his ordeal has stretched on, Michel’s health has suffered. Earlier this year he was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Delhi for hip surgery, and he has walked with a cane when attending court appearances since.
“We have one fear now,” Alois says. “That he never comes back.”
The broader implications of Michel’s detention extend far beyond a single family’s suffering. His case has become a litmus test of the UK government’s willingness to protect its citizens abroad – particularly when doing so risks complicating lucrative diplomatic engagements.
“The people of Great Britain gave a clear and resounding mandate to the Labour Party to reclaim the country from the grip of bureaucratic dominance and restore the nation’s pride,” says Michel’s son. “But this government, too, is proving weak – submissive to bureaucracy, unwilling to defend its own citizens.”
Trade, security cooperation and joint efforts against organised crime dominated the headlines around the Modi-Starmer summit.
But despite the family’s heartbreak, Michel’s imprisonment was not raised publicly during Modi’s UK visit. Neither leader allowed the media to ask any questions and their talks took place in the prime minister’s country residence Chequers, away from any public displays of anger in London.
“We are just asking both governments to respect the UN ruling,” Alois says. “Follow the law, and let him go.”
