AgustaWestland case: CBI court frowns upon British High Commission letter on bail matter

By Sushil Batra
New Delhi [India], June 18 : A special CBI court on Friday frowned upon a direct communication to it from the British High Commission in the matter concerning bail of Christian Michel James who is in judicial custody in the AgustaWestland chopper case.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar in his order rejected the bail petitions of Michel James.
"It needs to be mentioned that British High Commission has sent a letter addressed to this court stating that medical condition of accused Christian Michel James and his pre-trial detention of two-and-a-half years may be taken into account when his bail application is considered," he said.
The court said it had been made clear earlier that such direct communication is not permissible.
"... It was made clear on May 13 that such direct communication to court from third party is not permissible and if anyone has any grievance or wants to participate in the court proceedings, he may move appropriate application and same shall be considered as per law," the court said.
Christian Michel James, a British citizen and an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland case, was extradited from Dubai in 2018, after India won a legal battle.
The bail petitions had been moved by James in cases against him by CBI and ED in the AgustaWestland chopper case.
"Considering the overall facts and circumstances, serious nature of accusations, gravity of offence and aforesaid conduct of the accused, I do not consider it to be a fit case for grant of bail. Application for bail filed by accused is, thus, dismissed," the court said.
In his bail plea filed through advocates Aljo K Joseph, Sriram P and Vishnu Shankar, the accused expressed willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
"The applicant will be available to join the investigation any future investigation and trial, as and when required and has never sought to evade the process of law," the petition said.
Joseph told the court that Michel James has made no attempt to suborn witnesses, tamper with documentary evidence, or in any other manner pollute or obstruct the judicial process.
He said the applicant undertakes that he shall not, tamper with evidence or influence witnesses, "nor is there any reasonable or justifiable apprehension thereof".
A Dubai-based businessman, Rajeev Saxena, was also extradited to India in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. He was extradited in January 2019.