The Supreme Court ruled on December 6 that Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam, cannot be detained indefinitely simply because he is a foreign national and that his lack of Indian citizenship does not permit complete deprivation of his liberty.
James, a citizen of the United Kingdom, was extradited from Dubai in 2018.
Normally, the court would have been willing to grant the accused bail if he had been an Indian national, especially if he had spent more than four years in custody for offenses for which the maximum punishment is five years, according to a bench consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha.
The bench stated that because there are over 250 witnesses in the case and the co-accused government officials have been granted bail due to lack of approval for prosecution, the court is concerned about the complexity of the trial.
News Mania Desk
