Delhi Court Releases Augusta Westland Middleman After 7 Years in Custody, But Case Continues

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A Delhi court has ordered the release of Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the Augusta Westland deal, from jail after he completed seven years in custody. However, he will continue to stay in judicial custody in the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) case. James was arrested in 2018 and extradited from the UAE to face charges of money laundering and corruption. He had been in jail for over seven years, the maximum punishment for the offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed his release, saying that he had not completed the maximum sentence of seven years in the money laundering case. However, the court noted that James had already served the maximum punishment and was entitled to be released. The court also directed James to continue attending the hearings in the case, even after his release. He will remain in judicial custody in the CBI case, and the court will decide on an application moved by his counsel for his release in this case on Monday. The CBI had alleged that James was involved in a deal worth €556.262 million, in which senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office, Special Protection Group, and Air Force agreed to tweak the mandatory service ceiling of helicopters to favour AgustaWestland. This allegedly caused a loss of €398.21 million to the government. The ED is probing the money trail linked to kickbacks in the deal. James had earlier told the trial court that Delhi was like a "larger prison" for him, as his family could not visit, and that he feared for his life outside jail. He was granted bail in the ED's money laundering probe earlier this year, but still remains in prison awaiting the renewal of his passport.