The Supreme Court on March 18 refused to entertain a fresh bail plea of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman who is being probed by the CBI and the ED in the alleged ₹3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam cases relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters.
It was argued that Mr. James cannot be charged under any other offences apart from those mentioned in the extradition decree and he be granted the benefit of the doctrine of speciality. He was arrested in December 2018 after being extradited from Dubai.
"How can you file the Article 32 (one of provisions in the Constitution which gives right to move the SC for enforcement of fundamental rights) petition in this case?" asked a Bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
