AgustaWestland case: Court directs AIIMS to arrange surgery for James

A Delhi court has directed AIIMS to arrange hip replacement surgery for jailed British national Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman arrested in 2018 in a money laundering case connected to the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper case.

Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal passed the order on an application filed by James who has claimed that his total hip replacement surgery could not be avoided, considering that he was suffering from "excruciating pain" in day-to-day activities.

James, who was extradited in 2018, claimed that the doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had advised the surgery.

"The Director, AIIMS is requested to arrange for the total hip surgery, as advised by the doctors of AIIMS as per the medical prescription dated December 30, 2024, and to fix the surgery i.e. total hip replacement, as stated in the report, preferably, in the first/second week of February, 2025 as per the convenience of the operating surgeon," the judge said in an order passed on January 9.

The alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, has 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 ED, in its chargesheet filed against James in June 2016, had alleged that he had received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

James, currently in judicial custody, is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case. The other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.