Agusta Westland VVIP Chopper Case: Supreme Court to take up Christian Michel's bail plea on February 7
New Delhi, February 2: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing till February 7 on the bail plea of British citizen Christian Michel accused in the Agustan Westland VVIP chopper scam.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud adjourned the matter for next Tuesday. Christian Michel had approached the Supreme Court seeking bail in the cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper scam being probed by the agencies.
The counsel appearing for Michel, a United Kingdom national, who was extradited from Dubai in 2018, has told the Bench that Michel has spent around four years in jail after his extradition in connection with an FIR registered in 2013 for the incident which took place in 2004 till 2008.
The counsel has said that Michel has almost finished the maximum sentence of five years for the offences against him. The court was told that many accused who were similarly placed had been granted bail by the trial court except Michel.
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The Bench earlier expressed its concern over the relationship between the treaty and the statute (Extradition Act, 1962) and said the statute says "he can only be tried for the offences for which he has surrendered or has been extradited and the limitation imposed by the statute cannot be removed by a treaty".
The apex court also asked earlier, the counsel of Michel and ASG to submit a note on the issue and listed the matter.
The ED has opposed the bail plea of Michel and told the Supreme Court that he has tried to pass confidential papers to his counsel at the time of legal access.
It had said that further investigation in the present case is still ongoing and many crucial documents are required to be collected across jurisdictions for the purpose of the investigation, therefore it is strongly apprehended that he might try to tamper the witnesses or evidence and obstruct the judicial process.
The investigating agency had told the Bench that the role of Michel is clearly established and the offence of money laundering is squarely made out against him.
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Michel had challenged the March 11 order of the Delhi High Court in the apex court, which had refused to grant him bail.
The CBI had said that he had a flight risk and feared that because the British government was helping him, he might flee and would never return.
- ANI
