AgustaWestland: Indian court orders release of Briton Christian Michel held without trial for years

The Delhi High Court has ruled that Christian James Michel, a British man detained in India for six years without trial in connection with a major corruption case, must be granted bail. Michel, an arms consultant, is accused of bribing Indian officials to help British-Italian defense firm AgustaWestland win a multi-million dollar helicopter contract. However, he has denied the allegations.

Michel was extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and has been in custody ever since. A judge called the situation "very peculiar." The AgustaWestland controversy is one of several corruption cases linked to India's former ruling Congress party, some of which ultimately fizzled out. In 2010, the Indian government signed an agreement with AgustaWestland's parent company to purchase 12 helicopters.

The alleged irregularities came to light after India's federal audit agency reported that the government may have overpaid for the $753 million (£455 million) deal, which was eventually canceled in 2014. According to court documents, Michel allegedly received around €42 million ($44.7 million, £25 million) for facilitating the contract. His lawyers have argued that there is no evidence linking him to the alleged crimes.

India's financial crime investigation agency and domestic crime investigation bureau have conducted separate investigations into Michel. However, neither investigation has been completed, and the trial has yet to begin, leading to Michel's "prolonged incarceration," the Delhi High Court noted. The judge stated that his six years of pre-trial detention was also "strikingly close" to the maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment for money laundering, one of the charges he faces.

The court decided to grant Michel bail in one of the cases after the Supreme Court made a similar ruling in another case on February 18. This means Michel can now leave Delhi's high-security Tihar jail, but he cannot leave India as his passport has been confiscated. The deal to purchase 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters was signed in February 2010, when AgustaWestland beat out American and Russian competitors.

The aircraft were originally intended for an elite squadron of the Indian Air Force responsible for transporting the President, Prime Minister, and other dignitaries. Only three helicopters were delivered to India before the deal was canceled. Italian prosecutors suspected that bribes worth nearly $67.6 million were paid to Indian officials to secure the contract. Giuseppe Orsi, the former head of AgustaWestland's parent company (then called Finmeccanica), and Bruno Spagnolini, the former head of AgustaWestland, were tried in Italy on fraud and corruption charges. Both were acquitted in 2018. Indian officials have stated that their acquittals will not affect the case in India.

The person who was the Indian Air Force chief at the time of the deal was arrested in 2016 for taking bribes and was later released on bail.