Noting that as many as 250 witnesses still remain to be examined in Agusta Westland VVIP chopper scam case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday wondered how long can accused middleman Christian James Michel, who was arrested and extradited from Dubai on December 4, 2018, be deprived of his personal liberty.
“He has already been put in jail for four-and-a-half years…. Ordinarily if he was an Indian national, the court would be willing to grant bail…. Yes, he is a foreign national and brought him through extradition. But only because he is a foreign national, does that warrant a complete deprivation of his liberty,” Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, presiding over a two-judge bench, asked.
