VVIP Chopper Scam: Delhi High Court rejects Michel's bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scandal. Finding no force in the plea, the HC refused to set him free on bail. Michel, a British national, has been behind bars since December 2018, when he was extradited from Dubai. The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed Michel's bail plea. Both agencies have filed charge sheets against him in the case that deals with alleged irregularities in an Indian Air Force deal with UK's AgustaWestland to purchase helicopters to transport VVIPs.

Opposing the petition, the CBI had said it feared the British authorities were helping Michel. The ED said that some senior officers of the air force were involved in the VVIP chopper scandal.

The ED had also told the high court that merely because the Indian government had lifted the ban on dealing with AgustaWestland did not mean that the "offence (allegedly involving the company) is whitewashed".


The ED had alleged that Michel, "in collusion with Indian government officials", played a key role in reducing, as per the technical terms, the altitude at which the helicopters were to operate. The agency had further argued that Michel was involved in "tinkering with the defence of India" by taking "huge amounts of bribe" from AgustaWestland to swing the deal in its favour. The two helicopters that were delivered by the company were lying "useless" in India, it said.