NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to the alleged middleman and British national, Christian Michel James, accused in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper corruption scam case.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta granted bail to him, while considering the fact that he has been in custody for the past six years and the investigation by the CBI in the matter was still underway.
The top court said that James would be released on bail, subject to the terms and conditions decided by the trial court.
"Considering facts and circumstances and that petitioner was extradited in 2018 and has been in custody for more than 6 years now, we are inclined to grant bail on condition as set by the trial court," the bench said.
James approached the apex court, challenging the September 25, 2024 order of the Delhi High Court, declining him bail.
The CBI claimed the accused, James is the alleged middleman in the deal.
Michel, the British citizen, was extradited to India on December 5, 2018 from the UAE. On his arrival in India, he was arrested by the CBI and days later, arrested by the financial probe agency, the ED. Since then, he has been lodged in judicial custody at Tihar Jail.
On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.
Michel was alleged to be the middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.
The AgustaWestland case was related to a 2007 contract signed by the government to buy 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister, and former prime ministers.
