New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud disposed off the bail plea filed by AugustaWestland accused Christian Michel, who had sought bail on the ground of coronavirus threat in jail, and told him to move the Delhi High Court for interim bail.
Michel, lodged in Tihar jail, has moved the top court seeking interim bail citing coronavirus scare inside the prison and cited its recent order on granting bail to undertrial prisoners to decongest prisons in view of the pandemic.
Without expressing any views on the merits of the case, the bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah, in a hearing conducted through video conferencing, asked the accused to seek bail from the High Court first.
The matter has already been pending with the High Court, but it has not been taken up for consideration yet.
The CBI and ED had opposed the bail plea earlier when the matter was being heard by the Delhi High Court, contending that Michel was extradited to India with a lot of difficulty and could flee from the country if granted bail.
Michel, 59, has claimed that his health condition was critical and incompatible with the current prison status, especially to cope with the risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection which could have a lethal effect on him as he is already suffering from serious pathologies.
On January 5 last year, he was sent to judicial custody in the ED case. He is also lodged in judicial custody in another case registered by the CBI in connection with the scam.
Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the cases filed by the ED and the CBI. The other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
Michel is a British arms dealer who had allegedly helped AugustaWestland get the deal for 12AW101 choppers meant for VVIP use. He is accused of receiving around Rs 225 crores from the company for bribing Indian bureaucrats, politicians and Air Force officials.
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