AgustaWestland VVIP scam: Christian Michel's lawyer speaks on bail conditions, passport renewal process
Mar 05, 2025
New Delhi [India], March 5 : Advocate Aljo K Joseph, representing Christian Michel, a key accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, spoke about the bail conditions imposed on his client.
According to Joseph, Michel is required to surrender his passport, which expired in November 2021.
"The conditions have been imposed by the High Court. He has to surrender his passport; it expired sometime in November 2021. When he was extradited from Dubai, he was taken by the CBI. He is a UK citizen, so he has to move an application for getting a fresh passport issued in his favour," Joseph explained.
He further clarified that Michel could only proceed with applying for a new passport if the court granted him permission. "Then he has to apply for a visa to stay in India. He can stay in India with a court order," he added.
Joseph also expressed uncertainty regarding the procedure for issuing a UK passport but emphasised that the legal team would seek the court's guidance. "We will go to trial court, let the court decide how it has to be proceeded," he said.
"The million-dollar question is, who has his passport? If the CBI has it, let them bring it to court. Then the application for renewal has to be filed with the High Commission, and then they have to take a call on how soon they can issue a passport," Joseph stated.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday had granted bail to Christian James Michel, the alleged middleman in the money laundering case. Recently, the Supreme Court granted him bail in a related CBI case.
The bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma on Tuesday allowed his bail plea. The court had kept the order reserved last week.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the bail plea of Christian James Michel arguing that he posed a flight risk due to his British citizenship. The ED counsel also highlighted that the Supreme Court had specifically recognised him as a flight risk.
Christian Michael James' lawyer, Aljo K Joseph, previously apprised the Delhi High Court about the Supreme Court's bail ruling and stated that the Supreme Court granted James bail due to delays in the CBI's corruption trial.
