India’s top court bails British arms dealer in chopper scam

NEW DELHI: India’s top court on Tuesday granted bail to a British arms dealer imprisoned for more than six years on charges of bribing officials over a multimillion-dollar helicopter deal.

Christian Michel has been in jail since December 2018. The Supreme Court said that while the “investigation is still ongoing”, Michel must be released on conditions laid down by a lower court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s top investigating agency, has filed three chargesheets in the case.

In January 2014, New Delhi cancelled a deal with Italian-British consortium AgustaWestland - agreed under a previous government in 2010 - after allegations the firm paid bribes to win the $677 million contract for 12 helicopters.

Indian investigators charged Michel in 2017 with arranging $52 million as kickbacks.

“Considering facts and circumstances of the case and in particular, that petitioner who was extradited in 2018 and has been in custody for more than 6 years now, and according to the Respondent CBI despite filing 3 chargesheets and 2 supplementary chargesheet, the investigation is still ongoing as stated in the counteraffidavit,” the court observed.

“We are inclined to grant bail on conditions as may be determined by the trial Court. The CBI may appropriately request the trial Court for imposing conditions before releasing him on bail,” the bench further said.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, has alleged an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros to the Indian government.

The ED, in its chargesheet filed against James in June 2016, has alleged that James had received 30 million euros (about Rs225 crore) from AgustaWestland. The other two alleged middlemen are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The Delhi High Court last year sought the stand of the CBI and ED on pleas by James seeking regular bail in the alleged scams. In 2023, the apex court had denied bail to James, rejecting his submission that he be released on the grounds that he has completed half of the maximum sentence in the cases.

James, a British national, was an established arms dealer who allegedly helped AgustaWestland to bag the February 2010 deal for 12 AW101 choppers meant for VVIP use, by influencing top Indian Air Force (IAF) officials and then-UPA government. He was arrested and extradited from Dubai on December 4, 2018.

He was also charged with other offences like cheating, dishonestly inducing delivery of property, criminal conspiracy and more. He moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court’s September 25, 2024 order refusing him bail in the case.

After his arrest, James made a bombshell allegation, saying that the CBI had pressured him to sign a confession that he met former Congress President Sonia Gandhi when the deal was being negotiated in 2010, which he refused to do. The CBI denied the allegations.