The Delhi High Court has ordered a British person to be released on bail after being held in India for six decades without trial in connection with a prominent fraud case.
Christian James Michel, a specialist in arms, is accused of paying bribes to Indian officials to get a multimillion-dollar aircraft deal for British-Italian defense firm AgustaWestland. He refutes the accusation.
He was taken into custody in what a prosecutor called an “exceptional” condition after being extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates in 2018.
One of the many problem cases involving India’s previous ruling Congress party was the AgustaWestland controversy, some of which eventually ran out.
The American government and AgustaWestland’s parent company reached a deal in 2010 to acquire 12 helicopters.
The alleged irregularities came to light when India’s federal auditor reported that the government may have vastly overpaid for the $753m (£455m) deal, which was eventually scrapped in 2014.
According to court documents, Mr. Michel is alleged to have received around €42 million ($ 44.7 million, £25 million ) for securing the contract. His attorney has argued that there is no proof that he is connected to the alleged crime.
Both India’s home crime bureau and the economic crime agency conducted separate investigations into Mr. Michel.
However, both of those studies have not yet been completed, and studies have not yet begun, which could lead to a “prolonged confinement” of Mr. Michel, according to the Delhi High Court.
The judge claimed that his six years in pre-trial prison were “alarmingly close” to the judge’s seven-year sentence for money laundering, one of the claims he faces.
After the Supreme Court did the same in another event on February 18, the jury made the decision to give him loan in one of the cases.
This means that while Mr. Michel is then free to leave Delhi’s high-security Tihar prisons, he never left India because his card has been taken.
After AgustaWestland fought off rivals from US and Russian competitors, AgustaWestland signed the deal for 12 three-engine AW-101 aircraft in February 2010.
An elite regiment of the Indian Air Force travels around the leader, the prime minister, and another VIPs.
Before the bargain was terminated, just three of the aircraft were delivered to India.
Italian authorities had a suspicion that Indian leaders were paid fees worth almost$ 67.6 million to secure the deal.
Giuseppe Orsi, the former head of AgustaWestland’s family firm, was facing corruption and fraud claims in Italy.
Both were found not guilty in 2018 and released. American officials have stated that the outcome of the case in India would not be affected by their convictions.
India’s air force chief at the time of the deal was arrested for bribery in 2016, and later released on bail.
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