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Informist, Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Christian James Michel, one of three alleged middlemen being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate for involvement in the AgustaWestland chopper kickback case, Friday moved the Supreme Court to seek his release from jail. The bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant noted that Michel's earlier pleas were heard by another bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath. "Let this matter be referred to a bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath," said Chief Justice Kant.

 

On Apr. 8, the Delhi High Court had rejected Michel's petition for release from jail and his challenge to Article 17 of the Indian UAE Extradition Treaty, which states that a person extradited can be tried only for the offence for which extradition was sought or "offences connected therewith". Challenging the high court's order, James moved the Supreme Court.

 

The AgustaWestland chopper kickback case involved alleged payments to "middlemen" and Indian officials in 2006 and 2007 in connection with the government's purchase of helicopters. The probe agency alleged an estimated loss of INR 26.66 billion to the exchequer from the deal. Michel was accused of creating a paper trail to route kickbacks in the deal.

 

Last year, the Supreme Court granted bail to Michel in both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate cases. However, the trial court had not released him because he had not complied with certain bail conditions. 

 

Thereafter, Michel moved the high court to release him, arguing that an extradited person can be prosecuted only for the offences for which the extradition took place and not for connected offences. Michel argued that, under the treaty's conditions, he cannot be tried for offences under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, since these offences were not cited when he was extradited.

 

Article 17 of the treaty permits the trial of the person extradited, even for offences connected with those for which extradition has been sought, the high court had said. It had rejected Michel's argument that his extradition was solely to face trial for offences under Sections 420 and 415 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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