SC declines to consider plea for release of British national in AgustaWestland case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by extradited British national Christian Michel, accused in the AgustaWestland case, who had requested immediate release from jail.

He contended that he had already spent five years and three months in jail, while the maximum term is five years even if convicted, thus making his judicial custody illegal.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra told the petitioner's counsel Aljo K Joseph that the court is not keen to entertain his plea seeking release from the jail.

Michel’s counsel contended that the petitioner cannot be charged under any other offences not there in the extradition application.

“We cannot go ad nauseam," the bench said, questioning the filing of the writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.

In his plea, Michel said that the investigation in the case is not over and the trial has not even started, so his further judicial detention is "illegal".

The plea sought a direction declaring that the continuation of detention of the petitioner in the judicial custody is illegal and violative of Article 21 of the Constitution.

It also sought a direction that the petitioner be released since he has completed the maximum sentence that can be awarded in this case under the law.

The plea cited Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which allows undertrials to be released on bail if they have undergone even half the sentence of the maximum punishment that they can be sentenced to if convicted before 2014 amendment. The maximum sentence for the offence he has been charged with is only five years. It also cited Section 21 of the Indian Extradition Act 1962.

Michel, the British citizen, was extradited to India on December 5, 2018 from the UAE. On his arrival in India, he was arrested by the CBI and days later, arrested by the financial probe agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Since then, he has been lodged in judicial custody at Tihar Jail.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary, AgustaWestland, for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.

Michel was alleged to be the middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The AgustaWestland case involves a 2007 contract signed by the government to buy 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister, and former prime ministers.