Delhi court denies bail to AgustaWestland deal middleman Christian Michel in ED, CBI cases

In a big relief to the Enforcement agencies at a time when all efforts are on to bring back Mehul Choksi, a Delhi Court on Friday dismissed the bail application filed by AgustaWestland deal alleged middleman Christian Michel James in both CBI and ED cases registered against him. The order was passed by Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar, who turned down the bail pleas filed by the British national. It is important to mention here that Michel has been in custody for more than 900 days. 

Delhi Court denies bail to AgustaWestland deal middleman

Advocates DP Singh and NK Matta representing probe agencies had opposed the bail petitions. Michel is being probed in two cases relating to the AgustaWestland deal being probed by CBI and ED. After the arguments on the bail application had concluded, Michel's counsel Aljo K Joseph had moved an application for placing additional documents.

Responding to this application, the ED had countered the claims made by Michel's legal team and said, "the applicant has been duly defended by a team of lawyers. Additionally, the applicant is being represented by a team of reputed counsels who are well versed with criminal laws along with his foreign lawyer Rosemary Paterzi. Further, the applicant is also being advised by his brother, who is a barrister at law in the UK."

The ED in its response further claimed that the letter written by the Counselor to the court is merely a "pressure tactic" and was written on the "influence" of Michel. "The communication by the High Commission is at the influence of the accused and the same is done to influence the court proceedings," said Special Public Prosecutor D P Singh before the court. 

"They (Christian Michael's legal team) are making pressure on various forums," Singh added. In his bail application, Michel had claimed that he was illegally taken into custody by the Indian government and was deported to India. He had also cited an order of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions. 

The order stated, “…the deprivation of liberty of Christian James Michel by the government of India, being in contravention of the universal declaration of human rights and articles 9 (3); 10 (1); and 14 (1)–(2) and (3) (b)–(d) and (g) of the international covenant on civil and political rights”. 

Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal, was deported from the UAE and is currently in judicial custody. The Dubai-based businessman  Rajeev Saxena was extradited to India on January 31, 2019, in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

(Image: PTI)