The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to British national Christian Michel James, the alleged ‘middleman’ in the AgustaWestland chopper scam. The apex court granted James bail in the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation considering the delay in beginning the trial.
#WATCH | Advocate Aljo K Joseph, representing Christian Michel, says, "Supreme Court has said that the conditions will be imposed by the trial court. So, we have to go to the trial court for fixing the conditions and release. It is yet to be done...So, we will be moving to the… https://t.co/Y7y5mgaNoc pic.twitter.com/RZ7lEI7WdW
— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2025
Hearing James’ bail plea, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta granted the bail under conditions considering he has been languishing in prison awaiting trial for six years. James moved the apex court after the Delhi High Court refused his plea in September last year.
Granting the plea, the bench said, “Considering facts and circumstances and that petitioner was extradited in 2018 and has been in custody for more than six years now, and CBI filing two charge-sheets and supplementary charge-sheet, we are inclined to grant bail on condition as set by trial Court,” Live Law reported.
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The alleged Rs 3,600-crore scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from chopper design and manufacturing company AgustaWestland. A British national, James was extradited from Dubai by India in December 2018 and was subsequently arrested. James allegedly mediated the illegal transactions that took place in the VVIP chopper scam.
As per CBI’s charge-sheet, the deal signed in February 2010 caused the exchequer a loss of 398.21 million euros (approx. Rs 2,666 crore) As per the deal, the Centre has sought delivery of 12 VVIP choppers at a cost of 556.262 million euros. The Enforcement Directorate has also registered a case against James, accusing him of taking kickbacks to the tune of 30 million euros from AgustaWestland.
