A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved order on the bail application of Christian Michel, alleged middleman in the ₹3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, in corruption and money laundering cases connected with it.
Counsel for the probe agencies opposed his bail application submitting that the court had already taken cognisance of the charge sheet in the case and the accused could not seek bail at this juncture.
Later, Special Judge Arvind Kumar reserved the order for February 16.
In his bail applications, counsel for the accused submitted that as the charge sheet was not filed against him within the stipulated 60 days after his arrest under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), so he is entitled to bail.
Mr. Michel, who is a citizen of the United Kingdom, was extradited to India last December in connection with the case. He is in judicial custody since then.
The CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused in September 2017. Among those arraigned were retired Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, his cousins, former Air Marshal J.S. Gujral, two other alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke, the then AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini, Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi and others.
The Enforcement Directorate filed a complaint of money laundering against Mr. Michel in last July.
The agency alleged that the accused persons conspired to swing the contract in AgustaWestland’s favour in lieu of bribe. It charged that Mr. Tyagi not only lowered the service ceiling requirement of the helicopter from 6,000 to 4,500 metres but also revised the operational requirements.
