The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a plea filed by Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the ₹3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, seeking modification of the bail conditions imposed on him in the money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, after hearing submissions from Michel’s counsel and the ED, said that a detailed order would be pronounced in due course. Michel appeared virtually from Tihar Jail and confirmed that the application for bail modification had been filed through his lawyer.
The plea seeks relaxation of two bail conditions — furnishing a surety of ₹5 lakh and surrendering his passport. Michel’s counsel argued that the passport had already expired, and the renewal process could take four to eight weeks. He added that since Michel is a foreign national, he was unable to arrange a local surety and should not be forced to remain in custody despite having been granted bail.
Opposing the application, the ED argued that both conditions were fair and necessary to ensure Michel’s presence in India, especially considering his foreign nationality and lack of roots in the country. The agency submitted that waiving the surety requirement would make it difficult to secure his attendance at future proceedings.
The ED further suggested that the passport, once renewed, could be directed to be handed over to the investigating officer or the trial court directly to avoid any risk of misuse.
Michel was granted bail in the ED case by the Delhi High Court on March 4 and earlier secured bail in a related CBI case from the Supreme Court on February 18.
Michel, along with Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, is one of the three alleged middlemen under investigation for facilitating kickbacks in the 2010 purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian defence firm AgustaWestland. He was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 and subsequently arrested by both the CBI and the ED.
According to the CBI, the chopper deal, valued at €556.262 million, caused a loss of approximately €398.21 million (around ₹2,666 crore) to the Indian exchequer. The ED’s 2016 chargesheet alleges that Michel received €30 million (around ₹225 crore) from AgustaWestland as commission.
