Delhi court refuses to release VVIP chopper middleman Michel James from jail
The order was passed by special judge Sanjay Jindal on Thursday while dealing with a plea moved by James, through his lawyer Advocate Aljo K Joseph, seeking release under Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc), which deals with the maximum period for which an undertrial prisoner can be detained.
James in his plea said that he had already completed the maximum period of sentence of seven years in the case and hence ought to be released.
The plea stated that James had remained in custody, including 123 days of pre-extradition detention, for nearly the entire maximum period, entitling him to mandatory release under the provision.
The court said, 'Considering the allegations under Section 467 IPC which entails life imprisonment, it cannot be said that the accused has already undergone the period of maximum punishment prescribed for the alleged offences'.
The court further said that the issue of whether Section 467 IPC applies to James shall be decided at the stage of framing of charges and cannot be prejudged at this stage. 'Judicial propriety prohibits reopening issues which have already been settled by superior courts,' the court added.
The court went on to rely on a Supreme Court judgement from 2023, which observed that James had not only been extradited for cheating and criminal conspiracy but also for the offence of money laundering.
The judge noted that these offences were connected to the extradition request and therefore did not violate the doctrine of speciality under Article 17 of the India-UAE Extradition Treaty or Section 21 of the Extradition Act, 1962.
Referring to previous orders passed both by the Delhi high court and a trial court, the court said, 'The accused cannot raise the same ground before this court again, as the same would be abuse of process of law'.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday told a Delhi court that the plea to be released by James was misleading as he had not completed the maximum sentence of seven years in the money laundering case for which he was extradited from the UAE.
The ED stated, '…Article 17 of the Extradition Treaty with UAE not only permits trial for offences in respect of which extradition of an accused person is sought, but also for the offences connected herewith…reading of the extradition request as noted in the 2018 judgement passed by the Dubai Supreme Court, would show that besides other offences, the applicant's extradition was also 'sought' in respect of the offence of money laundering'.
Stating that under section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the maximum sentence prescribed for the concerned scheduled offences is seven years and the date of arrest in the ED's case was December 22, 2018, the maximum period of imprisonment for the offence has not yet expired and therefore the present entitlement sought by James were premature and liable to be dismissed.
The ED's submissions on Tuesday came a day after the CBI, through public prosecutor DP Singh, argued on Monday that while the maximum sentence in its case was complete, framing of charges has to be carried out and James has to plead guilty, only after which he can claim that his sentence was over in the CBI's case. James was arrested by the CBI first after his extradition on December 4, 2018.
Michel is accused of being a middleman in the Augusta Westland deal and faces charges under Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
CBI had alleged that senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Special Protection Group (SPG), and Air Force agreed in 2004 to tweak the mandatory service ceiling of helicopters to favour AgustaWestland. This allegedly caused a loss of €398.21 million (approx. ₹2,666 crore) to the government in a deal worth €556.262 million ( ₹3,726.9 crore). The ED is probing the money trail linked to kickbacks in the deal.
Michel was extradited from the UAE in December 2018 and remained in custody until he was granted bail this year. The Delhi high court granted him bail in March in ED's money laundering probe, following a Supreme Court order in February that granted bail in the CBI's corruption case. While doing so, the apex court observed that CBI had not completed the trial despite filing two chargesheets, and key documents had yet to be shared with Michel.
He was released after furnishing a personal bond of ₹5 lakh and one surety of the same amount, as directed by the Delhi high court.
He, however, still remains in prison, awaiting the renewal of his passport, which he has to submit before the court as part of the bail conditions.
The Delhi high court had in May, modified James' bail conditions and replaced an earlier requirement of surety bond with a personal bond of ₹5 lakhs and a cash surety of ₹10 lakhs.
It also directed that Michel would not be required to submit his passport right away and directed the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to ensure he does not leave the country and instructed the British High Commission to submit his renewed passport directly to the trial court.
Michel had earlier told the trial court that Delhi was like a 'larger prison' for him, as his family could not visit, and that he feared for his life outside jail.
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