Free Finally : After Spending 6 Years Behind Bars, Christian Michel Gets Bail From Delhi Court in Augusta Westland Case

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Delhi high court has granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while granting the reprieve to James, said it was an ‘exceptional situation’ where the accused was in custody for over 6.2 years but the trial had not yet commenced due to incomplete investigation.

With the relief in Enforcement Directorate case, and the Supreme Court granting him bail in a related Central Bureau of Investigation case on February 18, James can walk out of prison subject to compliance with the conditions.

As per PTI report, Justice Sharma said James’ prolonged incarceration ‘without any foreseeable conclusion of trial’ would infringe his fundamental right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution, which overrode the statutory bar on bail under the anti-money laundering law.

Section 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the judge said, imposed stringent conditions for the grant of bail but the provision couldn’t be interpreted in a manner to confine the accused in judicial custody for an indefinite period of time.

‘The present case is not one where the applicant’s custody is only marginally beyond the halfway mark. Instead, the applicant has been in custody for over six years and two months — which is alarmingly close to the maximum punishment — without even being adjudicated guilty,’ the order said.

The examination of over 100 witnesses was highlighted in the bail order, which also noted about a thousand documents relied upon by the prosecution.

‘Given that the trial is unlikely to conclude before the applicant completes even seven years in jail, further incarceration would render the entire purpose of a trial meaningless,’ the 22-page bail order said.

The relief came on a bond and surety of Rs 5 lakh each aside from surrendering the passport before the trial court.