AGENCIES STUCK IN AGUSTA CASE, MICHEL MAY GET BAIL

Probe agencies are still struggling to present a watertight case against him.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

On 4 December, Christian Michel, an alleged key accused in the Rs 260 crore kickbacks related to the Rs 3,727 crore Agusta Westland helicopter tender, completed four years in prison.

Earlier, on 18 May, the legal team of Michel had moved the Supreme Court, seeking bail for him after the same was denied by the Delhi High Court on 11 March. The next date for his bail hearing is 11 January 2023 and after 12 hearing dates at the Supreme Court, in all likelihood, Michel is likely to get a bail as the investigating agencies are still struggling to present a water tight case against him.

Despite being in the custody of investigating agencies for such a long time, he is yet to be convicted in the case with the investigating agencies repeatedly stating to the court that they are still in the process of collecting “crucial documents” related to the case. Among the grounds given by his team to secure a bail for Michel is that he has spent more than four years in prison for an offence whose maximum punishment is seven years.

Michel was extradited to India on 4 December 2018 and taken into custody by the ED on 22 December. In the last hearing on 6 December, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud asked the Central Bureau of India (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) whether the fact that Michel was a foreign national justifies the complete deprivation of his liberty. The investigation in this case started nine years ago when the CBI registered an FIR in the case in March 2013 which was followed by the ED registering a case in July 2014.