The special CBI court Thursday issued an open non-bailable warrant against British national Christian Michel James, an accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case. Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain issued the warrant after the CBI submitted that they require his custody to question him and ascertain crucial aspects in the matter. The CBI said that James, who as per the information by the UK authorities is now in Dubai, needed to be interrogated to ascertain how much he allegedly received as “commission”. “In view of the above submissions, open dated non-bailable warrant be issued against accused Christian Michel James,” the court observed. The court fixed October 1 to consider CBI’s application, seeking issuance of Letter Rogatory to the competent authority in Mauritius for assistance in the probe. The CBI had earlier asked the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against James, saying the accused firms engaged him and others as agents on “huge payment of commission/kickback to cause favour to AgustaWestland International Ltd”. It further alleged that certain documents, appeared to have been prepared by James, were seized by Swiss authorities during searches in a similar matter. These included a “handwritten budget sheet” purportedly written by James. “The amount of Euro 30 million has been or was to be paid as illegal gratification to various persons associated in the said procurement, and others which include public/government servants, politicians, etc. However, this document is in coded form.” the CBI said.
