The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by British arms consultant Christian James Michel, accused in the alleged AgustaWestland helicopter scam, seeking his release from jail, Bar and Bench reported.

Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja also rejected his challenge to provisions of the 1999 extradition treaty between India and the United Arab Emirates. The bench said that the petition lacked merit and dismissed it, The Indian Express reported.

The case pertains to a Rs 3,565-crore helicopter deal signed by the former Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government with British-Italian firm AgustaWestland. The deal was put on hold after Italy arrested the head of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland’s parent company, on charges of paying bribes to secure the contract.

Michel is one of three suspected middlemen whom Indian investigative agencies believe brokered the agreement. He was arrested on December 22, 2018, after he was extradited from the United Arab Emirates.

He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.

The CBI is looking into the corruption allegations in the AgustaWestland case, while the ED is looking into alleged money laundering linked to it. The CBI alleges that the deal caused a loss of 398.21 million euros, or Rs 2,666, to the exchequer.

In his petition before the High Court, Michel challenged a trial court order dated August 7, 2025, that rejected his application under Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking release, PTI reported.

Section 436A allows for the release of undertrial prisoners who have served half of the maximum sentence prescribed for their alleged offences.

He also challenged Article 17 of the India-UAE extradition treaty, which allows the requesting state to prosecute extradited persons not only for the specific offence for which extradition was granted but also for connected offences.

Michel argued before the court that an extradited person can be prosecuted only for the offences for which extradition took place and not for any connected offences, PTI reported.

Noting that he had completed seven years in jail on December 4, 2025, Michel said he had already undergone the maximum sentence possible for the offences for which he was extradited.

This rendered his continued detention in India illegal, he said in his petition.

Michel was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the CBI case in February 2025, while the High Court granted him bail in the ED case a month later.

The British arms consultant, however, continues to be in jail as he was unable to fulfil the bail conditions, PTI reported.