NEW DELHI: A special court on Saturday granted bail to two Indian associates of European middleman Christian Michel James in a money laundering case relating to the now-scrapped Rs3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the bail pleas of accused R K Nanda and J B Subramaniyam after the two furnished a personal bond of Rs one lakh each and a surety of the same amount.
The judge also directed the duo not to leave the country without the court's prior permission and not to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses.
Counsel for the Enforcement Directorate Advocate N K Matta opposed the bail applications contending there was enough evidence on record to suggest their prima facie involvement in the case.
The court had last year issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against James and summoned his Indian associates who were directors of Media Exim Pvt Ltd, a firm created by the European middleman.
In its complaint, the ED had claimed that the three middlemen "managed" to make inroads into the IAF in order to influence and subvert the service ceiling (maximum altitude at which a helicopter can fly) from 6,000 to 4,500 metres in 2005 after which AgustaWestland was able to bid for the tender for which it was otherwise ineligible.