New Delhi, May 1 (HS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opposed Christian Michel’s plea for changes in his bail conditions in the Agusta Westland scam case. In its response filed in the Delhi High Court, the ED stated that Michel is a foreigner and does not have roots in India. Therefore, if there is no local surety, it will be difficult to bring him to India. Justice Swarnakanta Sharma’s bench ordered that the next hearing in the matter will be held on May 6.
During the hearing on Thursday, Christian Michel was presented in the High Court via video conferencing. The court also ordered that Michel be presented through video conferencing on May 6. The ED opposed the changes in bail conditions, stating that if a local surety cannot be found for Michel’s bail, he cannot be brought to India.
The court had issued a notice to the ED while hearing Michel’s petition on March 25. During the hearing, Michel’s lawyer argued that the High Court had imposed the condition of having an Indian surety when granting bail. He stated that Michel is not an Indian citizen and has no relatives in India, nor does he have deep ties to the country. Thus, presenting an Indian as a surety is impossible for him.
Michel’s lawyer also requested a change in the condition regarding the surrender of his passport. He mentioned that Michel’s old passport has expired, and obtaining a new passport will take four to eight weeks. Michel has already been granted bail in both the CBI and ED cases related to the Agusta helicopter scam. The Delhi High Court granted him bail in the money laundering case on March 4, and the Supreme Court granted him bail in the CBI-related case on February 18.
In fact, a case of a scam amounting to ₹3,600 crore has been registered in connection with the purchase of 12 helicopters from Augusta Westland. According to the CBI, Michel obtained some of the money from this scam after 2010 and some before 2010. The ED arrested Michel in January 2019 in this ₹3,600 crore scam. He was extradited from Dubai and brought to India on December 4, 2018. On October 23, 2020, the court took cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet filed by the CBI. The charge sheet has 13 accused. The CBI filed the supplementary charge sheet on September 19, 2020.
The charge sheet names Christian Michel, Rajeev Saxena, G. Saponaro, the director of Augusta Westland International, and Sandeep Tyagi, a relative of former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, among the 13 accused. Notably, former CAG and former defense secretary Shashikant Sharma have not been named in the charge sheet as the CBI has not yet received permission to prosecute them.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
