NEW DELHI: British arms consultant Christian James Michel was on Tuesday granted bail in a money laundering case linked to the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who presided over the case, allowed Michel’s bail plea, citing his extended imprisonment of over six years and the absence of any progress in the trial.
The court also took into account the Supreme Court’s February 18 ruling, which had granted him bail in the parallel case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“….the prolonged incarceration of the accused, of about six years and two months, and the fact that investigation is not yet complete and trial has not yet begun, and there are more than 100 witness to be examined in this case, would entitle him to grant of regular bail, thereby overriding the statutory bar under Section 45 of PMLA and proviso to Section 436A of CrPC,” the court stated in its order.
The Bench also underscored that while PMLA’s Section 45 imposes stringent conditions for granting bail, it cannot be interpreted in a manner that leads to indefinite judicial custody.
The court noted that the present case presents an exceptional situation where the applicant has already been in custody for over six years and two months, yet the trial has not even commenced due to the incomplete investigation.
“Such prolonged incarceration, without any foreseeable conclusion of trial, would infringe upon the applicant‟s fundamental right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the court noted.
Michel’s counsel, arguing for his release, pointed out that his passport had expired and that he had already served over six years in jail — close to the maximum seven-year sentence prescribed under PMLA.
However, ED opposed the plea, arguing that the period Michel spent in Dubai should not be considered part of his actual custody under PMLA. The agency also maintained that the “twin conditions” for bail under Section 45 of PMLA had not been met and emphasised that the Supreme Court had previously recognised Michel as a “flight risk”.
Arrested in December 2018 following his extradition from Dubai, Michel has been accused of acting as a middleman in the controversial VVIP chopper deal. The CBI alleges that the AgustaWestland contract, signed on February 8, 2010, resulted in an estimated loss of approximately Rs 2,666 crore to the exchequer.
The ED, which filed a chargesheet against Michel in 2016, claims that he received around Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland as part of illicit transactions.