NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday referred to another bench a petition by alleged middleman Christian Michael James in a case $AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scam case worth 3600 crores seeks his release from jail.
The Delhi High Court had on April 8 rejected the British national’s plea in the case, saying there was no merit in James’ petition which was extradited from Dubai in December 2018.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the fact that the earlier petitions of the accused were heard by another bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath.
“Let the matter be referred to a bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath,” the CJI said.
In his petition, James attacked one of the provisions of the extradition treaty between India and the United Arab Emirates. He also appealed the court’s order of 7 August 2025 by which his application under Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code for his release from prison was rejected.
James has challenged Article 17 of the treaty, signed in 1999, which allows the requesting state to prosecute extradited persons not only for the specific crime for which the extradition was made, but also for related crimes.
It was argued before the Supreme Court that an extradited person can only be tried for the crimes for which he was extradited, and not for crimes related to them.
In his petition, James also asserted that he completed seven years in prison on December 4, 2025, and thus has already been subjected to the maximum possible sentence for the crimes for which he was extradited, making his continued detention in India illegal.
In its order, the Supreme Court stated that James may not re-raise treaty-related issues that, at least on a prima facie basis, have previously been considered by the Supreme Court.
However, it considered the provisions of the Treaty and ruled that James should be extradited to face trial for crimes that arise directly from the factual background in this case, and therefore, his trial falls within the scope of the Treaty.
After his extradition, James was arrested by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.
James is among the three alleged middlemen being investigated in the case, the other two being Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
The Supreme Court granted him bail in the CBI case in February 2025. The Supreme Court granted him bail in the ED case in March that year.
However, James remains in prison because he was unable to meet his bail conditions.
The trial court ordered James to post a personal bond in the amount of $5 lakh and a cash surety of the same amount to secure his release in the CBI case. In the ED case, the Supreme Court asked him to furnish a personal bond of Rs $5 lakh and cash guarantee $10 lakh.
The Supreme Court also made it clear that James could be released without immediately depositing his expired passport.
She added that the relevant authorities were asked to deposit the new passport, when it is ready, directly with the court of first instance.
The Supreme Court also asked the regional Aliens Registration Office to ensure that James does not leave the country.
In its indictment, the CBI alleged a loss of €398.21 million to the treasury due to the deal signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP helicopters worth €556.26 million.
In the indictment filed against James in June 2016, the Public Prosecution alleged that he received 30 million euros from AgustaWestland.
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