New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS): After spending six years in incarceration, British alleged arms middleman Christian James Michel was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, with the bench slamming the CBI for the delay in the trial.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the CBI’s objection to the grant of bail on the ground that the investigation was still underway. "Going by what your conduct has been, you will not be able to conclude trial in another 25 years," it said.
Expressing displeasure over the CBI’s conduct leading to a delay in trial, the court said: "Despite filing three charge sheets and two supplementary charge sheets, the investigation is still ongoing… We are inclined to grant bail on conditions as may be determined by the trial court."
The apex court also accepted the submission of Michel’s lawyer who claimed that the CBI was unfair in its intention to keep him under judicial custody till they received documents which they had sought from different countries.
Michel was arrested in December 2018 after being extradited from Dubai and sent to judicial custody on January 5, 2019.
He is termed as a 'middleman' for the alleged illegal transactions that took place in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland under the UPA government in 2010.
On Tuesday, the apex court granted him bail with a condition that he should renew his passport and subsequently surrender it.
The Supreme Court also said that Michel’s bail terms would be decided by the trial court which may consider the CBI’s request for imposing conditions before releasing him on bail.
The CBI had alleged that there was an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.
The ED had then filed a charge sheet against Michel in June 2016, alleging that he had received 30 million euros (Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
Michel had earlier approached the Delhi High Court for bail but his petition, filed on September 25, 2024, was rejected. Later, Michel moved the apex court for bail.