CHRISTIAN JAMES MICHEL Vs. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The applicant, Christian James Michel, seeks regular bail by way of the present application, in case arising out of ECIR No. DLZO/15/2014/AD(VM) 7551-7584, dtd. 3/7/2014, recorded for offence under Ss. 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 [hereafter 'PMLA'].

(2.) The brief facts of the case, as discernible from the material on record, are that based on a disclosure made by the then Head of External Relations of M/s Finmeccanica, the holding company of M/s AgustaWestland International Ltd. [hereafter 'AWIL'], Italian authorities had initiated an investigation in 2011 regarding alleged bribe payments through middlemen, including Guido Ralph Haschke and the present applicant i.e. Christian James Michel, in connection with the supply of 12 VVIP helicopters by AWIL to the Government of India. The Public Prosecutors' Office in Naples and Rome had conducted telephonic and technical surveillance on Guido Ralph Haschke and others, including the then CEO of M/s Finmeccanica. The surveillance had revealed that AWIL had disguised bribes as payments for engineering jobs. During a search at the residence of Guido Ralph Haschke's mother, Swiss Police had recovered incriminating documents, including a payment/balance sheet.

(3.) Subsequently, the Director General (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, Government of India, had lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 12/2/2013, requesting an inquiry into the allegations. A preliminary inquiry was conducted, leading to the registration of an FIR/RC No. 217-2013-A-0003 on 12/3/2013, for offences under Ss. 120B read with Sec. 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 [hereafter 'IPC'] and Ss. 7/8/9/12/13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 [hereafter 'PC Act'].