New Delhi: Christian Michel James, allegedly the middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), told a lower Delhi court Friday that he could not accept the bail granted to him by the Delhi High Court, earlier this week on Tuesday. Christian Michel James said he wanted to be in judicial custody as Delhi was “unsafe” for him.
“Michel said he wants to go back to jail as the capital is unsafe for him. He said something happens each time he steps out of Tihar,” Michel James’s lawyer Vishnu Shankar told ThePrint. “He told the court that he should either be allowed to be in prison or be given permission to go to the UK or anywhere else outside the country.”
The lawyer added that the court asked Christian Michel James who he was afraid of, and he said the police.
The Delhi High Court granted the British national bail Tuesday, considering his prolonged incarceration of over six years since his extradition to India—when the trial in the case had not even started.
Earlier on 18 February this year, the Supreme Court also granted James bail in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case lodged against him in the VVIP chopper scam, citing the delay in the trial. James approached the top court after the Delhi High Court, last September, rejected his bail plea.
“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 witnesses to be examined in this case would entitle him to grant of regular bail,” Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said while granting James bail in the ED case.
The bail conditions imposed on James by the Delhi High Court include furnishing his mobile number, email address and address to the investigating officer and informing the IO of any change in any of them, surrendering his passport, not tampering with evidence, not contacting any person of interest in the case, presenting himself before the IO and cooperating, not leaving India without permission of the court, and reporting to the ED once every 15 days.
In the latest development Friday, after being apprised of the British national’s fears for his safety, the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi asked Christian Michel James to apply for immediate renewal of his passport with the British High Commission. The court added that the commission might see if an emergency certificate could be issued to James, according to the rules, till getting his passport processed. The CBI had earlier stated before a local court that his passport expired on 1 August 2021.
The Rouse Avenue court also imposed additional bail conditions on James, including furnishing a bond of Rs 5 lakh and marking his attendance in front of the IO every 15 days.
In 2017, the CBI accused Christian Michel James of being a middleman who allegedly facilitated the bribes offered to Indian officials for AgustaWestland to secure the deal for the supply of 12 VVIP AW-101 helicopters. He also stands accused of distributing the kickbacks. Soon after, the ED started probing the money laundering aspect of the case and accused James of laundering the proceeds of crime through shell companies.
India extradited Christian Michel James from the United Arab Emirates in 2018, and the British national has since been behind bars.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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