VVIP chopper case: SC rejects alleged middleman Christian Michel James’s plea to modify bail conditions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by British national and alleged middleman Christian Michel James challenging an order of the Delhi High Court which had directed him to furnish details of the address where he intended to reside post-release on bail in the money laundering case linked to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sanjay Kumar refused to interfere with the May 22 order of the Delhi High Court, which had modified the bail conditions in the money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The Delhi HC, on March 4, had granted bail to James, considering his long period of incarceration of over six years and the delay in the commencement of the trial.

As per the original bail order, the accused was required to furnish a personal bond and surety in the sum of Rs 5 lakh each and surrender his passport before the trial court, which will not be released without permission of the Delhi HC.

“The ED shall be at liberty to request the concerned court for imposing necessary/ stringent conditions before releasing the applicant on bail, considering the previous conduct of the applicant and the fact that he was extradited to India,” a single-judge Bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma had ordered.

After an application was moved by James, the Delhi High Court modified the bail condition imposed earlier, and in its order passed on May 22, directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh, along with a cash surety in the enhanced sum of Rs 10 lakh, considering “his status as a foreign national with no roots in India, and his inability to arrange for a surety locally”.

Further, the modified bail order directed James, an accused in the Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland, to furnish the details of the address where he intended to reside post-release on bail.

“Before being released from the jail, the said address will be verified by the learned trial court through the ED. Additionally, he shall promptly inform both the learned trial court and the concerned I.O. in case of any change in such address,” said the Delhi High Court.

James was extradited to India on December 5, 2018, from the UAE. On his arrival in India, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and days later, also arrested by the ED. Since then, he has been lodged in judicial custody at Tihar Jail.

Various courts had rejected the bail petition of Michel on a number of occasions.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Italian defence major Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over an alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore. In 2020, the CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet against 15 accused, including James and accused-turned-approver Rajiv Saxena, in connection with the alleged corruption in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet in this case on September 1, 2017, against then-IAF chief S.P. Tyagi and 11 other accused.

IANS