A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a plea by Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, seeking bail in cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate. The court said that there was no sufficient basis on which it could grant relief to Michel, PTI reported.

The alleged middleman, who was extradited from Dubai, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on December 22, 2018. He is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.

Michel had filed a petition last month, claiming that he had been questioned for over 600 hours by the two investigating agencies. In April, a Delhi court rejected his petition, seeking bail to celebrate Easter with his family. The investigating agencies had then opposed to his plea, saying that India had several festivals but the accused cannot be allowed to go out of jail to celebrate them.

On January 5, Michel was sent to judicial custody in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate and has also been in custody for another case by the CBI in connection with the chopper scam.

Under the United Progress Alliance government, a Rs 3,565-crore helicopter deal was signed in 2010 with the British-Italian firm AgustaWestland. The agreement was put on hold after Italy arrested the head of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland’s parent company, on charges of paying bribes to win the contract.

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