Delhi HC dismisses bail of alleged middleman Christian James in AgustaWestland case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland 'scam' being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma dismissed the bail application by James, observing that there was no significant change in circumstances from the time when the accused's earlier bail pleas were rejected.

The court, however, deferred hearing till November on the bail plea by James in a related money laundering case.


James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 and was subsequently arrested by the CBI and the ED.

He is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case and the other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The CBI, in its charge sheet, 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.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against James in June 2016, had alleged that he had received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

A copy of the high court's order is awaited.

On February 7 last year, the top court denied bail to James while rejecting his submission that he be released on the grounds that he has completed half of the maximum sentence in the cases.

Before that, the high court had dismissed his bail applications in both CBI and ED cases in March 2022.

On March 18, the top court had also refused to entertain the plea of James seeking bail under Article 32 of the Constitution on the grounds that he cannot be charged under any other offences apart from those mentioned in the extradition decree and he should be granted the benefit of the "doctrine of speciality".