AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam: Supreme Court asks CBI to respond to James' bail plea in 4 weeks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to respond to a bail plea filed by Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman and co-accused in the ₹3,600 crore VVIP chopper case.

A division bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath directed the CBI to reply to the bail plea of James within a period of four weeks. The alleged scam pertains to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from chopper design and manufacturing company AgustaWestland.

James was denied bail by the Delhi High Court in September this year. James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018, as first reported by ET.


Turning down James' bail plea in September, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma had held that there was no significant change in circumstances from the time when the accused's earlier bail pleas were rejected.

James' bail plea had previously been dismissed by the trial court, which highlighted the severity of the charges and his potential flight risk. The CBI, in September 2020, had filed a supplementary charge sheet against James and alleged middleman Rajiv Saxena and 13 others. It alleged that James had "conduits and contacts in the ministry of defence and Indian Air Force" and had access to confidential information pertaining to the deal.

The charge sheet had also alleged that James shared classified information with top officials of M/s AgustaWestland, pertaining to the deal eight months before changes were finalised by government officials.