Michel seeks to remain in jail citing security concerns

British national Christian James Michel, the alleged middleman in the controversial AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, told a Delhi court on Friday that he feared for his safety if released on bail and preferred to remain in judicial custody.

Surrounded by security personnel, Michel appeared before special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal at the Rouse Avenue court, where he expressed his apprehensions.

“Delhi is just a larger prison for me. My family cannot come and meet me. There is a security threat. Every time I step out of prison, something happens… I request the court to let me stay inside the prison in judicial custody and attend the trial through VC (video conference),” he submitted.

Michel,61, was produced in person from Tihar Jail following a Delhi high court directive requiring the trial court to impose bail conditions on his release.

The high court’s ruling, delivered on Tuesday by justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, allowed Michel to walk free after he had already secured bail from the Supreme Court in February in the case investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

As Michel insisted on staying in custody, the court questioned him, asking, “How can we keep you inside prison? Can’t you find a safe house in Delhi?” Michel then requested a private conversation with the judge regarding broader security concerns, but the court declined his request.

Despite Michel’s objections, the court proceeded to set bail conditions for his release. He was required to furnish a personal bond of ₹5 lakh with one surety of an equal amount. Additionally, he was directed to surrender his passport to the court.

As part of his bail conditions, Michel must mark his attendance in person at the offices of CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) every 15 days. He is required to provide his residential address and notify the court of any changes. Furthermore, he has been explicitly barred from tampering with evidence or attempting to influence witnesses.

The conditions imposed were based on the recommendations of both CBI and ED, who are conducting parallel investigations against him.

Michel was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December 2018 and has remained in custody since then. The Supreme Court, while granting him bail on February 19 in the CBI case, criticised the prolonged nature of his incarceration. It noted that CBI failed to complete the trial despite filing two charge sheets and that the investigative agency did not provide Michel with the documents relied upon in its case against him.

Following his bail in the CBI case, Michel approached the Delhi high court seeking relief in the ED case related to the VVIP chopper deal after his bail plea was dismissed by the trial court.

Represented by advocate Aljio K Joseph, Michel argued that he had already spent six years in prison for an offence carrying a maximum sentence of seven years and that the trial had not yet commenced. However, ED opposed his bail, asserting that he posed a flight risk due to his lack of ties to India. The agency also argued that Michel failed to meet the conditions under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which mandates that courts must be convinced an accused is not guilty and unlikely to commit another offence before granting bail.

The high court acknowledged the existence of twin conditions laid down under Section 45 of PMLA but said that the prolonged incarceration of six years and two months, coupled with bleak chances of the conclusion of trial before completion of seven years in jail -- the maximum punishment under the charges against him -- would override the statutory bar under PMLA and Code of Criminal Procedure (now replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita).

Michel is accused of being the middleman in the deal to procure AgustaWestland helicopters and has been charged under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with other co-accused.

CBI claimed in its first charge sheet filed on September 1, 2017 that, in 2004, officials at Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Special Protection Group (SPG), air force and the ministry of defence, agreed to change the mandatory service ceiling of VVIP helicopters from 6,000 metres to 4,500. This, it alleged, ultimately benefitted Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland, which was given the contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers in 2010 . The irregularities in the award of the contract to AgustaWestland led to an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (around ₹2,666 crore) to the government in the Euro 556.262 million ( ₹3,726.9 crore) contract, according to CBI.

The deal became one of the biggest controversies during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. It was eventually scrapped in 2014.

Michel was arrested by ED in December 2018, after being extradited from Dubai. ED alleged that Michel was a key figure in one of the channels from which money was laundered, received around 42 million Euro from Augusta Westland, and distributed kickbacks for influencing contracts.