New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (December 6) sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a plea filed by alleged middleman Christian Michel James seeking release on bail in the purported Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam case.
A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice PB Varale issued notice to the CBI on James’s plea and directed the central agency to file its reply within four weeks.
“Issue notice, returnable four weeks,” the bench said.
James has moved apex court against Delhi High Court order
James, who is among the three alleged middlemen probed in the AgustaWestland scam case, has moved the apex court against an order of the Delhi High Court order refusing to grant him bail in the case.
Apex Court in February last year denied bail to James
The Supreme Court on February 7 last year denied bail to James while rejecting his submission that he had undergone half of the maximum sentence in the cases.
The High Court earlier had also rejected Michel’s bail plea, observing that there was no significant change in circumstances from the time when his earlier bail pleas were rejected.
The trial court in 2021 and the High Court in 2022 had dismissed James’s bail pleas in the CBI as well as the money laundering case registered by the ED in connection with the alleged scam.
James is an accused in Rs 3,600-crore scam relating to purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland
James, who is a British national, is an accused in the Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. He along with two other alleged middlemen – Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa – are being probed in the case. The CBI and ED have lodged two separate cases in the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
The CBI, in its charge sheet, has alleged an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of 12 VVIP helicopters worth 556.262 million euros (around Rs 3,600 crore). The ED, in a charge sheet filed in June 2016, had alleged that James received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
