NEW DELHI: India’s top court on Tuesday granted bail to a British arms dealer imprisoned for more than six years on charges of bribing officials over a multimillion-dollar helicopter deal.

Christian Michel has been in jail since Dec 2018 after he was extradited from Dubai. The Supreme Court said that while the “investigation is still ongoing”, Michel must be released on conditions laid down by a lower court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s top investigating agency, has filed three chargesheets in the case. In Jan 2014, New Delhi cancelled a deal with Italian-British consortium AgustaWestland — agreed under a previous government in 2010 — after allegations the firm paid bribes to win the $677 million contract for 12 helicopters.

Indian investigators charged Michel in 2017, when he was working in the United Arab Emirates, with arranging $52 million as kickbacks.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025