CBI and the ED, in their separate replies, told special judge Arvind Kumar that Michel was accused of serious economic offences and there was ample evidence against him to prove his guilt. The court has posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday after Michel's lawyer sought time to argue.
CBI said Michel was a British national and had no roots in India and there was "every likelihood that if he is granted bail, he may abscond from India, evading the process of law and may not return to face the trial."
"The apprehensions of CBI about his absconding from the process of law gets support from his past conduct. Keeping in mind the facts and circumstances, there also exists a security threat for the applicant accused, if enlarged on bail," CBI said while seeking dismissal of his bail plea.
It said the accused had acted as middleman in a defence deal of government of India and such "shady and nefarious defence deals sometime create hurdles even in implementing the fair and transparent decisions taken by the governments for procurement of defence equipments in order to strengthen the defence line of the country".
"There is ample evidence on record to link the applicant accused to the commission of such offences, and his release on bail would adversely affect further investigation to unearth the deep-rooted multi-layered conspiracy in the instant case. The conduct of the applicant-accused till date has been evasive," it said.
It said that the agency was taking all possible steps to conduct an effective and fair further investigation which would be hampered if he was released on bail.
Michel had moved the court seeking bail in cases by the CBI and the ED, saying the charge sheet against him was not filed within the stipulated time frame of 60 days.
"Since, the charge sheet was not filed against him within the stipulated 60-day period under section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Probe is complete. I'm in custody since December 22, 2018," Michel had said in the petition.