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AgustaWestland Deal
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Enforcement Directorate's response on a plea by alleged middleman Christian Michel James seeking modification of certain conditions imposed on him while granting bail in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on James' plea in which he sought the bail condition of furnishing a surety of Rs 5 lakh be waived. The court listed the matter for hearing on April 22. While granting bail to James in the money laundering case, the high court on March 4 had directed him to furnish a personal bond and surety of Rs 5 lakh each besides surrendering his passport before the trial court. The accused said the condition requiring him to furnish a surety from India may be modified or waived as he is a foreign national and has no known relatives or deep-rooted connections here. "Given his lack of personal ties in the country, it is impossible for him to provide su
Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in AgustaWestland case, on Friday offered to "finish his sentence" and leave India instead of walking out on bail owing to "security risks". James was addressing special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal when he made the plea. Following the reprieve in the CBI and ED cases against him, the special court imposed the necessary bail conditions for releasing him on bail. While the Delhi High Court on March 4 granted him bail in the ED case and directed for saddling Michel with the necessary bail riders, the Supreme Court on February 18 granted the relief in the CBI case subject to the trial court's conditions. On Friday, the judge asked James, "How are you now? God has been kind to you in the last two months. You have got bail in both cases." James, however, said, "Delhi is just a larger prison. My family cannot come to me...My security is at risk. I would rather complete my sentence and leave the country." The judge asked Michel how could he continu
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear on February 7 the bail pleas of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam in which the CBI and the ED have lodged two separate cases. The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, which said the pleas would be heard next Tuesday. The Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. In May last year, the apex court had sought the responses of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the bail pleas of James. During an earlier hearing, the counsel for the accused had said the case was covered under section 436A of the CrPC (maximum period for which an under trial prisoner can be detained) and James had served 50 per cent of the sentence for the offence allegedly committed by him. The accused was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 a