The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to UK-based arms consultant Christian James Michel in a case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma granted bail to Michel in the case registered by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Counsel appearing for Michel submitted that the petitioner has already spent more than six years in jail, pointing out that PMLA has a maximum punishment of seven years. He further said that Michel’s passport had already expired.
The Counsel appearing for ED contended that the time spent by Michel in Dubai could not be treated as part of the period spent by him in actual custody under PMLA. He further said that the twin conditions for bail under Section 45 of PMLA were not met in the case. The Supreme Court held that Michel was a flight-risk person, he added.
On February 18, the top court of the country granted bail to Michel in a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to the same scam.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta granted bail to Michel on the grounds that he had remained in custody for more than six years.
While reprimanding the national agency for not completing the trial in the past six years, the Apex Court directed the CBI to continue further investigation in the case.
Earlier, ED had contended that although the Apex Court granted bail to Michel in the predicate offence being investigated by the CBI, the money laundering case under PMLA demanded the satisfaction of the twin test, which was not satisfied by the accused.
In 2022, a coordinate bench had denied bail to Michel in both cases registered by CBI and ED.
The Britisher was arrested in December 2018 after being extradited from Dubai. He was termed as a ‘Middleman’ for the alleged illegal transactions that took place in the VVIP chopper scam.
CBI alleged that an estimated loss of EUR 398.21 million (about Rs 2666 crore) was caused to the exchequer in the deal signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth EUR 556.262 million.
ED had filed a charge sheet against Michel in June, 2016, alleging that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.