A Delhi court on Thursday refused interim bail to Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the VVIP chopper deal case, citing “allegations of economic offences against him”.
The accused had sought bail in money laundering and corruption cases being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI for seven days to celebrate Easter, for a medical check-up at a private hospital and legal interviews with his lawyers for making preparation for filing a regular bail.
Dismissing his bail plea, Special Judge Arvind Kumar said: “There are serious allegations against the accused of commission of grave economic offence. As per the ED, investigation on certain crucial aspects is still going and the accused has close links with many influential persons and may tamper with evidence. He may also abscond.”
“Thus, considering the overall facts and circumstances, I do not find any ground for admitting the accused to interim bail. The applications for interim bail are dismissed,’’ Mr. Kumar said.
Counsel for the ED had opposed his plea, submitted that it had no ground.
Past conduct
The accused had no roots in society and his past conduct made it clear that he might evade the process of law, the counsel said.
Quoting the Delhi Prison Rules, the counsel submitted that it provides for celebrating main festivals of all religions in jail and there is a specific prohibition of giving special treatment to any inmate. Counsel for the accused submitted that Michel had been in custody for the past nine months as a result of which he had lost 7kg weight in four weeks. Hence, the accused needed to have a general medical check-up at a private hospital.
His counsel further submitted that he found it very difficult to carry voluminous documents supplied by CBI and ED to the jail to discuss filing a regular bail with his client.
