The Delhi High Court on Friday refused bail to Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in ₹3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam [Christian Michel James v Central Bureau of Investigation]..The judgment was pronounced by Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri who had reserved it on February 18..In his petition, James had argued that his extradition from the United Arab Emirate (UAE) to India was a quid pro quo for Indian authorities sending back Dubai’s Princess Latifa.Advocate Aljo Joseph, appearing for Michel, had submitted that Michel was brought to India in December 2018 just eight months after Princess Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, the runaway daughter of Dubai’s ruler, was intercepted by the Indian Coast Guards near Goa while she was trying to flee to the US. India had then sent her back to the UAE.He argued that Michel's bail was rejected by the lower court on the ground that he was a citizen of the United Kingdom and had no roots in India but it cannot be a criteria for denial of bail.The Court was also informed about the intervention of United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which termed his arrest illegal as it went against several international conventions that India is a signatory to.Joseph submitted that Michel has only been charged with Sections 8 and 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act where the maximum punishment is five years imprisonment. Therefore, he is now entitled to bail as per Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), it was pointed out.Joseph further said that the investigation in the AgustaWestland case has been going on for nearly eight years and there is no clarity when it will conclude..Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) DP Singh however had said that the allegations that James was brought to India in exchange of Princess Latifa is nothing but a figment of imagination and an effort to derail the relationship between India and the UAE.Singh criticised the intervention of the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and said the same was only an effort to malign the Government of India.He argued that the AgustaWestland scam was first revealed in Italy in 2011 and it was in 2013 that it started to take shape after which an FIR was registered in India, but not much happened since the allegations were against the government of the day and it was only after 2014 that there has been some movement in the case.He contended that Michel is not eligible for bail in the present cases under Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure since the agencies have also charged him with Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code which carries a life sentence.Besides Joseph, advocates Sriram Parakkat and MS Vishnu Shankar represented Michel.
