250 witnesses still left, how long can Agusta accused be kept in jail, asks SC

He asked whether it would suffice if the court imposes some conditions to ensure his appearance. Michel’s counsel told the bench, also comprising Justice P S Narasimha, that he had already spent almost the maximum sentence of five years for the offences he had been charged with, and thus it falls under Section 436 of CrPC.

Section 436 CrPC says that where an undertrial has been in prison for up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for the offence he is charged with, he or she shall be released by court.

“The FIR was registered in February 2013. The incident is for 2004 and 2008. I was arrested and brought to India on 4 December 2018. Chargesheets have been filed but more than 1,280 documents need to be examined,” the counsel said. “It’s unlikely that the trial will proceed in the next few years. The investigation has been going on for more than nine years.”

Appearing for prosecuting agencies CBI and ED, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said although Section 21 of Extradition Act, 1962, states that any person who surrendered or returned by a foreign State shall not be tried in India for an offence other than for which he was extradited, it has to be read with the India-UAE extradition treaty, which provided that such a person could also be tried for a “connected offence”.

The bench said the statute says he can be tried only for offences for which he surrendered, or was extradited, and the limitation imposed by statute cannot be removed by a treaty.

The CJI remarked what is worrying the court is the “complexity of trial…as many as 250 witnesses are to be examined”.

The Bench asked the two sides to submit a note on their contentions. The court will hear it next in January 2023.