The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a petition filed by Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the Rs.3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. He has approached the Court seeking release from jail, claiming prolonged detention.
The Supreme Court agreed to consider a plea filed by Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the Rs.3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, who is seeking release from jail.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Union government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and asked them to respond within four weeks.
James has challenged Article 17 of the 1999 treaty, which permits the requesting state to prosecute extradited persons not only for the specific offence for which extradition was granted, but also for offences that are connected to it.
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At the start of the hearing, counsel for James submitted that the High Court had gone so far as to say that the India-UAE treaty would override any existing law.
The counsel submitted,
“I had filed a writ petition challenging this portion of the treaty,”
The bench said it has issued notice on the plea and that the matter will be listed in July.
Earlier, On April 24, the Supreme Court referred James’s request for release from jail to another bench. The Delhi High Court had on April 8 dismissed his petition, holding that there was no merit in the plea, as James an individual extradited from Dubai in December 2018 had not made out a case for relief.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, noted that earlier pleas of the accused had already been heard by a bench led by Justice Nath, and therefore referred the matter.
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In his petition, James questioned a provision of the India-UAE extradition treaty and also challenged an order of August 7, 2025, under which his application under Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking release from jail was rejected.
Before the High Court, it was argued that an extradited person can be prosecuted only for the offences for which extradition was granted, and not for related or connected offences. James also contended that he had completed seven years in jail on December 4, 2025, and that, having already undergone the maximum sentence possible for the offences he was extradited for, his continued detention in India is illegal.
The High Court, in its decision, said it was not open to James to reopen issues relating to the treaty that had already been considered by the Supreme Court, at least prima facie.
Still, it examined the treaty provisions and held that James was extradited to face trial for offences that arise directly from the factual background of the case, and therefore his prosecution fell within the treaty’s scope.
After his extradition, James was arrested by the CBI and the ED. He is one of three alleged middlemen being investigated in the case, the others being Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
The Supreme Court granted him bail in the CBI case in February 2025. In the ED case, bail was granted in March of the same year, but James remains in jail because he could not satisfy the bail conditions.
In the CBI case, a trial court directed James to furnish a personal bond of Rs.5 lakh and a cash surety of Rs.5 lakh. In the ED case, the High Court required him to submit a personal bond of Rs.5 lakh along with a cash surety of Rs.10 lakh.
The High Court also clarified that James could be released without depositing the passport, which has already expired. It directed the authorities to deposit the new passport with the trial court when it becomes available.
The High Court further asked the Foreigners Regional Registration Office to ensure that James does not leave the country.
According to the CBI charge sheet, the probe estimates an alleged loss of 398.21 million euros to the exchequer linked to a deal signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.26 million euros.
In its charge sheet filed against James in June 2016, the ED alleged that James had received 30 million euros from AgustaWestland.