AgustaWestland Chopper Deal

The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied bail to Christian Michel James, an alleged middlemen in AgustaWestland chopper scam cases, who is being probed by both the CBI and Enforcement Directorate. The Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said James' argument that he be released on bail on ground that he has served half of the maximum sentence in the cases cannot be accepted. It, however, said James may pursue his remedy of regular bail before the trial court in the cases. James has sought bail under section 436A of CrPC which says that a person can be released on bail if he has completed half of the maximum sentence prescribed for the offence.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear on February 7 the bail pleas of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam in which the CBI and the ED have lodged two separate cases. The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, which said the pleas would be heard next Tuesday. The Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. In May last year, the apex court had sought the responses of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the bail pleas of James. During an earlier hearing, the counsel for the accused had said the case was covered under section 436A of the CrPC (maximum period for which an under trial prisoner can be detained) and James had served 50 per cent of the sentence for the offence allegedly committed by him. The accused was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 a

The agency arrested Puri on September 4 and he is currently in judicial custody

The court had earlier sought the CCTV footage of jail number 1 and after going through it, had noted that the premises were clean and that good facilities were provided to Michel

She maintained since his extradition to India, Michel's interrogators in Delhi have told him, 'If you want to be a witness, you confess. If you want to be an accused, you don't confess'

Michel's name surfaced in 2012 as one of the three middlemen for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal kickbacks to the Indian authorities

Special Public Prosecutor D P Singh told the court Michel is required to be taken to Mumbai and also needed to be confronted with some documents

Christian Michel was arrested in the UAE and extradited to India on December 4

PM Narendra Modi has already said Michel will reveal the names of many top politicians in the VVIP chopper scam. No prizes for guessing who

It was timed to suit the electoral convenience of the BJP just prior the assembly elections in four key states

The Enforcement Directorate said they have recorded unimpeachable evidence supporting allegations against all accused persons

The Indian government was supposed to produce evidence in the United Arab Emirates court by May 19, 2018 against Michel

AgustaWestland chopper scam: SC asks Chhattisgarh govt to produce purchase

ED has chargesheeted Shivani Saxena under various charges dealing with Prevention of Money Laundering Act