Supreme Court seeks CBI’s response on bail plea of accused in AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was asked by the Supreme Court on Friday to respond to Christian Michel, a British national who is suspected of being involved in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scandal, and his bail request.
The CBI was notified by a panel of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B. Varale that they had four weeks to respond to Michel’s petition.
The Delhi High Court rejected his bail request on September 25. He then went to the highest court to request bail. Michel had already had a similar appeal for release from detention denied by a Delhi trial court.
Following India’s victory in the extradition case in Dubai, Christian Michel James was extradited in 2018. The purported intermediary in the transaction, Christian Michel, was deported from the United Arab Emirates and is now being held in jail by the authorities.
On January 31, 2019, Rajeev Saxena, a businessman from Dubai, was extradited to India in relation to the Rs 3,600-crore.
Christian Michel James’ bail request was denied by the Delhi High Court, presided over by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, earlier in September. The court observed that neither a substantial change in circumstances nor any fresh justifications existed to support a reconsideration of the bail. Because of the seriousness of the charges against him, the trial court had previously denied his bail request as well.
After Non-Bailable Warrants (NBWs) were issued in 2015 and a Red Corner Notice was issued, Michel was taken into custody in Dubai. On Dec. 4, 2018, he was deported to India. The trial judge noted that Michel was a flight risk since he had not willingly attended in court or assisted with the inquiry. As a result, he was unable to assert equality with other accused people who received bail.
