Nobody in India will stand surety for me: Christian Michel urges Delhi High Court to modify bail conditions

British national Christian Michel on Wednesday urged the Delhi High Court to modify the conditions imposed on him for grant of bail in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged AgustaWestland chopper scam case in which he is an accused..Michel's counsel took specific exception to the condition requiring him to furnish surety.He said that nobody in India will be willing to stand surety for him.Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma reserved judgment after hearing rival submissions made on behalf of Michel as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The judge also interacted with Michel, who appeared through video conferencing from Tihar jail, to confirm that he had filed the bail modification application. .Christian Michel is accused of having played the role of a middleman to enable helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland secure a contract from the then-Congress-led Indian government for the sale of helicopters for VVIP transport.Michel is accused of having entered into as many as twelve contracts with AgustaWestland to legitimize illicit commissions or kickbacks amounting to €42.27 million received on the procurement of VVIP helicopters by the government of India. According to the CBI, bribes estimated at around US$33 million were transferred through bank accounts in the UK and UAE.Michel was extradited to India in December 2018 and then arrested by the ED. He has remained in jail since then, without a trial, for six years. On March 4 this year, the Delhi High Court granted him bail.Earlier, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on February 18 in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case in the same matter..Despite the grant of bail, Michel has remained in jail, in judicial custody, due to non-compliance with bail conditions.Notably, while granting bail, the Court had directed that the bail is conditional on (i) furnishing a personal bond and surety in the sum of ₹5,00,000 each, and (ii) on surrendering the passport before the trial court. In this application, Michel has sought modification of these two bail conditions. His counsel, Advocate Aljo K Joseph, told the Court that it was difficult for him to comply with such conditions. "It is next to impossible to get an Indian surety. Nobody will furnish surety for him. This condition he cannot fulfil at all," he submitted.Joseph added that Michel's passport has expired and that he has applied for renewal. The process of passport renewal usually takes between 8 to 12 weeks, he pointed out. "After getting bail, if he is not able to fulfil the conditions, why should he be in jail indefinitely? These two conditions may be modified so that he can come out on bail," the lawyer submitted.Special Counsel for the ED, Zoheb Hossain, opposed the application, stating that the bail conditions are fair and reasonable..Advocates Sriram Parakkat and MS Vishnu Shankar also appeared for Michel.