The Delhi high court has reserved its verdict on a plea by Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper case, seeking release from prison.
Michel has argued that he has served the maximum sentence for the offences for which he was extradited, even as the CBI, ED and Centre opposed the plea.
The Centre and agencies argued that Michel has not completed the maximum sentence, as he faces allegations of forgery, which is punishable with life imprisonment.
They also pointed out that Article 17 of the India-UAE extradition treaty allows India to prosecute people for offences for which extradition is sought and for 'connected offences'.
The trial court had refused to release Michel from prison, noting that he had been accused of serious offences carrying a punishment of up to life imprisonment.
The CBI had alleged that senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Special Protection Group (SPG), and Air Force agreed in 2004 to tweak the mandatory service ceiling of helicopters to favour AgustaWestland.
This allegedly caused a loss of €398.21 million (approx. ₹2,666 crore) to the government in a deal worth €556.262 million (₹3,726.9 crore).
