Agusta case: HC reserves order on Michel's bail plea

The Delhi high court on Friday reserved its verdict on a plea by British arms consultant Christian James Michel seeking bail in a money-laundering case linked to the AgustaWestland chopper deal amid strong opposition by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

- Shruti Kakkar

NEW DELHI:

ED, represented by advocate Vivek Gurnani, told Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma that Michel was a flight risk with no roots in India, and asserted that he did not meet the conditions under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for granting bail.

Section 45 requires the court to be convinced that there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty, and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. These conditions generally make it challenging for an accused in a money-laundering case to secure bail.

Though Michel maintained that he served the maximum sentence of seven years as an under-trial, ED opposed the contention saying that his custody by probe agencies in Dubai, from where he was extradited in December 2018, could not be treated as a period of actual custody under PMLA.