Summary:
New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) The CBI Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, was a flight risk with no roots in the society and cannot be granted bail in the case.
Although James" passport was impounded, “there are examples in Indian history” of persons escaping “through Nepal”, the CBI said.
Special public prosecutor (SPP) D P Singh, appearing for the CBI, claimed before Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri that James, who was extradited to India from Dubai in December 2018, did not join the investigation in the case in either in India or Italy.
“The day he came to know that the matter was taken up by the authorities, he took the flight back (to Dubai), never to come back,” said the SPP who informed the court that the agency has filed two charge sheets in the case, citing approximately 280 witnesses.
The case is at the stage of Section 207 of Criminal Procedure Code for the supply of documents to the accused persons before the trial court and statements of over 230 witnesses were recorded, he added.
Singh alleged that James was in the “thick of things” and said that he would take the court through “the flow of money” on the next date of hearing.