AgustaWestland case: Delhi HC rejects Christian Michel James' plea seeking release from jail

ANIChristian Michel James The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam case seeking his release from jail.

A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja said there was no merit in the petition by the British national, who was extradited from Dubai in December 2018. A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.

In his petition, James assailed a provision of the India-UAE extradition treaty.

He also challenged a trial court order of August 7, 2025 by which his application under Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for his release from jail was rejected.

James challenged Article 17 of the treaty, signed in 1999, which allows the requesting state (in this case India) to prosecute extradited persons not only for the specific offence for which extradition was done, but also for connected offences.

Live EventsIt was contended that an extradited person can be prosecuted only for the offences for which extradition took place, and not for connected offences.

After his extradition, James was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

James also submitted that he completed seven years in jail on December 4, 2025 and has, therefore, already undergone the maximum sentence possible for the offences for which he was extradited, rendering his continued detention in India illegal.