Agusta Westland scam: SC defers bail hearing of British national to Feb 18

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to February 18 the bail hearing of alleged middleman Christian Michel James, accused in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland corruption case.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta adjourned the hearing after the CBI counsel sought time.

The top court granted three weeks time and posted the hearing on February 18.

On December 6, the apex court issued notice to CBI and directed it to file its reply within four weeks.

The alleged scam is over the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from chopper design and manufacturing company AgustaWestland.

James moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court's bail rejection order passed on September 25.

James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December, 2018, and was arrested subsequently.

The high court had dismissed his bail plea, observing there was no significant change in circumstances from the time when his previous pleas were rejected.

He is among the three alleged middlemen probed in the case with the other two being Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The CBI chargesheet alleged an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 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 Enforcement Directorate, in its chargesheet against James in June, 2016, in a related money laundering case, alleged he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

On February 7, 2023, the top court denied bail to James while rejecting his submission that he had completed half of the maximum sentence in the cases.

The high court dismissed his bail applications in both the CBI and ED cases in March, 2022.