In AgustaWestland case, HC modifies bail conditions, allows Michel to furnish cash surety

Michel had moved Delhi HC seeking modification of the two bail conditions, submitting that he has no relative or friends in India who can stand surety for him. Michel had also pointed out that his old passport has expired, and that the process of renewal shall take between four to eight weeks, and thus depositing his passport is not possible.

Allowing the modification, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma directed, “Instead of the requirement to furnish a personal bond and surety bond of `5 lakh each – the applicant (Michel) shall now furnish a personal bond of `5 lakh along with a cash surety in the enhanced sum of `10 lakh.”

On Michel’s request to waive off the condition for surrendering his passport, Justice Sharma noted that the condition stands modified, “to the extent that applicant may be released on regular bail, without him depositing his passport immediately.”

“…however, the FRRO shall ensure that the applicant does not leave the country, and the British High Commission (or the concerned authority issuing the applicant’s passport) shall ensure that the applicant’s fresh passport, whenever the same is ready, is not handed over to the applicant, but directly deposited with the learned trial court under intimation to this court,” Justice Sharma ruled.

Michel was granted bail in March by Justice Sharma in an ED case, noting that the case “presents an exceptional situation” where Michel had been in custody for over six years but the trial had “not even commenced due to the incomplete investigation”.

On February 18, the top court had also pointed to the delay in trial while granting bail to Michel in the 2013 CBI case.