AgustaWestland: Court rejects Christian Michel's plea for release

A Delhi court has rejected the plea of alleged middleman Christian Michel James seeking release in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case on the grounds that he had undergone the maximum period of sentence of seven years for the purported offences.

In an order dated August 7, Special Judge Sanjay Jindal said, "Considering the allegations under Section 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.) of the IPC which entails life imprisonment, it cannot be said that the accused has already undergone the period of maximum punishment prescribed for the alleged offences."

It said the question whether IPC section 467 was made out against James would be decided at the stage of framing of charges, and it cannot be said now that the offence cannot be attributed to him.

The court underlined that various issues raised by Michel, including his release, have already been considered by the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and the present court.

"It has been held in categorical terms that the plea of the accused that he is entitled to the benefit under Section 436A of CrPC cannot be accepted as besides the provisions of Sections 415 (mischief) and 420 (cheating) read with 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and section 8 (offence related to bribing a public servant )of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the accused is alleged to have committed offence under Section 467 of the IPC which is punishable up to life imprisonment," the court said.

"The request of the accused Christian Michel James for his release under Section 436 A CrPC stands declined," it added.

Section 436 A of the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure deals with the maximum period for which an under-trial prisoner can be detained.

James was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 and was subsequently arrested by the CBI and the ED.

He was granted bail in the CBI case by the Supreme Court on February 18 this year. Two weeks later, he was granted bail in the ED case by the Delhi High Court.

Michel, however, has not furnished bail bonds and remains in Tihar prison, awaiting the renewal of his passport.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, claimed an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about ₹2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.

The ED chargesheet led against James in June 2016 alleged that he received 30 million euros (about ₹225 crore) from AgustaWestland.