New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Monday rejected the interim bail application of AgustaWestland scam accused Christian Michel, ruling that his fear of contracting Covid-19 in his cell was “unfounded”.
Justice Mukta Gupta noted that Michel is lodged in a separate cell with only two other prisoners, and observed, “It is not the case of the petitioner that any of the two inmates residing with him are suffering from Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, the apprehension of the petitioner also because of the vulnerable age and overcrowding in jail that he is likely to contact Covid-19 which may be detrimental to his health, is unfounded.”
The court further noted that Michel was a “flight risk”, as he had fled from Italy after knowing about his possible arrest and had to be extradited from Dubai after an inquiry.
Michel is one of the three alleged middlemen being probed in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam. He was arrested in Dubai and extradited to India in December 2018. The chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate says he has been accused of receiving kickbacks to the tune of 30 million euro (about Rs 225 crore).
Controversy erupted over the deal in 2013, when Giuseppe Orsi, chairman of AgustaWestland’s parent company Finmeccanica, and AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini were arrested on charges of bribing middlemen to clinch the deal with India. The middlemen in question were allegedly Guido Ralph Haschke, his partner Carlos Gerosa, and Michel.
All three alleged middlemen are being probed by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
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Every Tihar jail prisoner screened
Michel had relied on an order passed by the Supreme Court on 23 March, when a three-judge bench had directed all states and union territories to set up high-level committees to determine the class of prisoners who could be released on parole for four to six weeks.
But the high court noted that the high-powered committee had specifically excluded cases of foreign nationals, prisoners involved in more than one case and cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Michel’s case fell under these exclusions, and hence, he could not have been released by relying on the Supreme Court order.
As for his plea claiming that his age and “pre-existing” illnesses would make him “more susceptible” to Covid-19, the high court was informed of the measures being taken to ensure that this does not happen.
It was told that every prisoner in Tihar jail has been screened to check if they had any Covid-19 symptoms, and that no positive case has been found so far.
The court was also informed that every prisoner being arrested now was screened first and then lodged separately to reduce the risk of infection.
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