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Delhi court orders release of Augusta Westland middleman Michel James in ED case
However, Christian Michel James will continue to stay in judicial custody in the CBI case lodged in Augusta Westland matter
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday ordered the release of alleged Augusta Westland middleman Christian Michel James from jail in the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), noting that he had already spent seven years in custody, the maximum punishment for the offence.
Special judge Sanjay Jindal of Rouse Avenue court said that offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, wherein James is one of the accused, entails a maximum punishment of up to seven years and he had already served seven years in judicial custody in connection with the case. The court said James was entitled to be released accordingly and he could not be detained in the case beyond December 21.
During the proceedings on the application, the counsel for ED, special public prosecutor DP Singh, told the court James must be asked to continue to attend the hearings in the matter even if he is released, so that the proceedings could be taken to a logical end. James’ counsel, Advocate Aljo Joseph, submitted that James was willing to give an undertaking that he shall cooperate in the trial and attend proceedings in the case even after being released.
However, James will continue to stay in judicial custody in the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI)’s case lodged in the matter and the Rouse Avenue court will decide on an application moved by his counsel for his release in this case on Monday.
James, through his lawyer Aljo K Joseph, has sought his release from prison on the grounds that he had already undergone the period of maximum sentence prescribed for the offences for which he was extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He said that he was entitled to be released by virtue of the provision of section 436A of CrPC.
ED had earlier told the court that the plea by James was misleading as he had not completed the maximum sentence of seven years in the money laundering case for which he was extradited from the UAE.
Section 436A of CrPC deals with the maximum period for which an undertrial prisoner can be detained and states that if an undertrial prisoner has been detained for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum imprisonment period specified for an offence, they should be released on their personal bond, potentially with or without sureties.
The ED had told the court, “…Article 17 of the Extradition Treaty with UAE not only permits trial for offences in respect of which extradition of an accused person is sought, but also for the offences connected herewith…reading of the extradition request as noted in the 2018 judgement passed by the Dubai Supreme Court, would show that besides other offences, the applicant’s extradition was also ‘sought’ in respect of the offence of money laundering”.
Stating that under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the maximum sentence prescribed for the scheduled offences concerned is seven years and the date of arrest in the ED’s case was December 22, 2018, the agency had stated that the maximum period of imprisonment for the offence has not yet expired and therefore the present entitlement sought by James were premature and liable to be dismissed.
The CBI, through public prosecutor DP Singh, had told the court that while the maximum sentence in its case was complete, framing of charges has to be carried out and James has to plead guilty, only after which he can claim that his sentence was over in the CBI’s case. James was arrested by the CBI first after his extradition, on December 4, 2018.
James is accused of being a middleman in the AgustaWestland deal and faces charges under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
CBI had alleged that senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Special Protection Group (SPG), and Air Force agreed in 2004 to tweak the mandatory service ceiling of helicopters to favour AgustaWestland.
This allegedly caused a loss of €398.21 million (approx. ₹2,666 crore) to the government in a deal worth €556.262 million ( ₹3,726.9 crore). The ED is probing the money trail linked to kickbacks in the deal.
James was extradited from the UAE in December 2018 and remained in custody until he was granted bail this year. The Delhi high court granted him bail in March in ED’s money laundering probe, following a Supreme Court order in February that granted bail in the CBI’s corruption case.
While doing so, the apex court observed that CBI had not completed the trial despite filing two chargesheets, and key documents had yet to be shared with Michel.
He was released after furnishing a personal bond of ₹5 lakh and one surety of the same amount, as directed by the Delhi high court. He, however, still remains in prison, awaiting the renewal of his passport, which he has to submit before the court as part of the bail conditions.
The Delhi high court had in May modified James’ bail conditions and replaced an earlier requirement of surety bond with a personal bond of ₹5 lakhs and a cash surety of ₹10 lakhs.
It also directed that James would not be required to submit his passport right away and directed the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to ensure he does not leave the country and instructed the British High Commission to submit his renewed passport directly to the trial court.
James had earlier told the trial court that Delhi was like a “larger prison” for him, as his family could not visit, and that he feared for his life outside jail.
