Delhi HC grants bail to Christian Michel in Rs 3,600 cr AgustaWestland case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma granted the reprieve to James after the order on his bail plea was reserved on February 28.

Details of the order are awaited.

The Supreme Court previously granted bail to the British national in a related CBI case on February 18.

Probe agencies reported irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian manufacturing company AgustaWestland.

The ED's counsel opposed Michel's plea, saying the British national did not meet the "twin tests" for grant of bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and was a flight risk.

Michel's lawyer sought the relief on grounds that he had already spent a substantial amount of time in custody.

He earlier submitted while the anti-money laundering law has a maximum punishment of seven years, he spent over six years in jail.

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

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

The CBI, in its chargesheet, claimed 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 chargesheet fileld against James in June 2016 alleged he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.