Supreme Court grants bail to British national Christian Michel James in Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam | Delhi News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to alleged intermediary Christian Michel James, who has been in custody for six years, in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam investigated by the CBI.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta famous that James had spent six years in jail whereas the investigation was nonetheless ongoing.
The court docket dominated that he can be launched on bail, topic to circumstances set by the trial court docket.
The case pertains to the procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.
James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 and subsequently arrested.
He had moved the Supreme Court difficult the Delhi excessive court docket‘s September 25, 2024, order denying him bail.
‘Hired by AgustaWestland to affect’
James was allegedly employed by AgustaWestland to affect politicians, officers and journalists in India to safe the VVIP chopper deal.
He is one in every of three middlemen accused of bribing a number of people to finalise the contract.
Michel, who had been related to AgustaWestland for the reason that Eighties, adopted in his father’s footsteps as a advisor for the corporate in India.
He was reportedly a frequent customer to the nation and operated as a intermediary for protection procurements, sustaining an in depth community throughout the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Ministry of Defence, together with each serving and retired officers.
According to the CBI, Michel gathered intelligence from the IAF and protection ministry and shared it together with his associates, who then transmitted the knowledge through fax to counterparts in Italy and Switzerland.
In July 2006, throughout a gathering in Cascina Costa, Italy, AgustaWestland’s industrial supervisor Renzo Lunardi proposed that Michel collaborate with fellow middlemen Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa to conduct “scouting and monitoring activities” for the helicopter acquisition.
The resolution was primarily based on Michel’s deep understanding of India’s navy operations. During the assembly, they allegedly agreed on a fee of seven% of the whole contract worth to cowl bills and costs.
On January 1, 2014, India canceled the contract with AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters to the IAF over allegations of contractual violations and kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.
In its June 2016 chargesheet, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Michel obtained roughly Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland as a part of the deal.