The Tihar Jail authorities have submitted a report to the Rouse Avenue Court regarding the conduct of Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case, during his six-year judicial custody.
The report, filed by the Jail Superintendent, stated that Michel has not been convicted and is therefore not eligible for remission.
The report was filed in response to an application submitted by Michel on 12 March, in which he sought access to his conduct record in prison to determine whether he was eligible for remission based on good behaviour.
Remission refers to a reduction in a prison sentence, typically granted for good conduct.
During the hearing, Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal took the report into consideration and disposed of Michel’s application. The report indicated that no punishment had been recorded against Michel during his custody, and his conduct was deemed satisfactory.
Michel’s lawyers, Aljo K Joseph and M S Vishnu Sankar, argued that he had already completed the maximum possible sentence applicable to him, including the remission period.
They contended that jail rules introduced in 2022 allow under-trial prisoners to receive remission, and Michel was entitled to six months of remission.
The court had earlier, on 12 March, directed the Director General of Prisons to submit a consolidated report on Michel’s conduct in Tihar Jail over the past six years.
Michel was recently granted bail in the CBI and money laundering cases linked to the AgustaWestland scam. His legal team maintained that, as per the extradition treaty, he could only be tried for the offences mentioned in the extradition request.
They argued that Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which carries a harsher penalty, was not part of the original extradition request. Instead, the maximum sentence applicable under Section 420 IPC is seven years.
The court, however, questioned this argument, stating, “How can you say that his maximum sentence would be only seven years?” The CBI had also added Section 467 IPC to the charges against him.
According to jail rules, a prisoner with good conduct is entitled to one month’s remission for each year served. Michel was extradited from Dubai to India on 4 December 2018 after spending four months in custody in Dubai.
Follow us
