AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper Scam

A Delhi court modified Christian Michel's bail conditions in a CBI case, easing bond terms and waiving passport deposit, while directing agencies to ensure he does not leave the country

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed James was in custody for the past six years while the investigation in the matter was still underway

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

They said the raids were being conducted against Sushen Mohan Gupta, an accused named in the case, and his relative and prominent Pune-based industrialist

The ED, in its plea, has claimed that the trial court has not appreciated all the documents put on record while granting relief to Puri

On January 5, Michel was sent to judicial custody in the ED case

Special judge Arvind Kumar also allowed Puri to take medicines long with him to jail subject to the opinion of the jail doctor

Michel, extradited from Dubai, was arrested by ED on December 22 last year

The Enforcement Directorate had on Wednesday arrested Puri and he was sent to one day judicial custody

Puri, already in judicial custody in a separate money laundering case related to an alleged bank loan fraud, was produced before a Delhi court

The order came a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail application in the case

Puri told special judge Arvind Kumar that he wrote some e-mails to the Enforcement Directorate expressing his desire to join the investigation but the agency did not respond

Special Judge Arvind Kumar issued notice to both the agencies and directed them to file their response by August 19, when the court will hear the matter

Authorities said Ratul Puri is the beneficial owner of these benami held equity shares and has been charged under the relevant law

Michel had moved the court seeking bail in cases by the CBI and the ED, saying the charge sheet against him was not filed within the stipulated time frame of 60 days

A Delhi court hearing the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case had last week imposed restrictions on Michel meeting his lawyers in ED custody

In the VVIP chopper scam, Delhi Court also summons ex-IAF chief S P Tyagi among others on September 12

The court is likely to pass the order at 4 pm today

High court's order came on appeal of CBI challenging trial court's May 24 decision