AgustaWestland: Delhi court reserves order on Christian Michel’s plea seeking release in CBI case

New Delhi, Dec 22 A Delhi court reserved its order for Tuesday on a plea filed by Christian James Michel seeking release from custody in a CBI case related to the alleged AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam.

Michel has sought release on the grounds that he had already undergone the maximum period of sentence of seven years for the charges against him.

Special CBI judge Sanjay Jindal, who was hearing the plea, reserved the order for December 23.

On December 20, the court ordered the release of Michel from custody in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) related to the alleged scam.

Michel, accused of being a ‘middleman’ in the defence deal, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018, following which the CBI arrested him and filed a chargesheet.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, claimed an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.

Michel has been accused in the two cases filed by the ED and the CBI in the alleged scam. He had filed applications in both cases seeking custodial release.

The AgustaWestland case centres on alleged irregularities and kickbacks paid to former defence ministry officials to secure a contract for 12 VVIP helicopters from the British-Italian firm.