Read Time: 05 minutes
Notably, Court agreed with ASG Sanjay Jain's submission that that Section 436 A of CrPC had no application to the instant case.
The Supreme Court today refused to entertain the SLP filed by Christian Michel James, an accused in the AgustaWestland scam, seeking bail as per the provisions of Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Section 436A deals with the maximum period for which an under trial prisoner can be detained.
"Further investigation is in progress. The fundamental basis for bail under S 436A CrPC cannot be accepted to be valid. We are not inclined to accept this submission", ordered a CJI Chandrachud led bench.
Last year in May, the Top Court had issued notice in a bail application filed by James while directing the Central Bureau of Investigation and Directorate of Enforcement to submit their responses.
The counsel for James had today submitted before Court that while the alleged offences happened in 2004, and the maximum punishment for an offence under Section 8 of PC Act is five years, James had already been in jail for four years and two months.
On March 11, 2022, the Delhi High Court dismissed bail applications filed by British middleman Christian Michel James in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Michel had argued in his bail application that his detention, deportation, and custody in India were in contravention of the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and that he was already acquitted by courts in Italy on similar charges.
The Court however rejecting Michel's bail plea had said, "Considering the overall facts and circumstances, serious nature of accusations, gravity of offence and aforesaid conduct of the accused, I do not consider it to be a fit case for grant of bail. Application for bail filed by accused is, thus, dismissed."
Michel has been said to be the middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, facilitating the same through his companies. He was extradited from UAE to India in 2018.
Michel was sent to the custody of both, the CBI and ED, and after serving for a few days, was sent to judicial custody on January 5, 2019.
Michel continues to languish in Tihar jail after both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court dismissed his previous bail petitions.
Case Title: CHRISTIAN MICHEL JAMES vs. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Please Login or Register
