Apex court to hear bail pleas of Christian Michel on December 6

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear on December 6 the bail pleas of Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam in which the CBI and Enforcement Directorate have lodged two separate cases.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha said it would fix the plea of the accused on Tuesday as the board of cases was "heavy today".

"We will hear it on a non-miscellaneous day. Today the board (cases listed for hearing during the day) is heavy. We will list on Tuesday," the bench said.

Earlier in May, the top court had sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED on the bail pleas.

The Rs 3,600-crore alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland.

During the earlier hearing, the counsel for the accused had said the case was covered under section 436A of CrPC (maximum period for which under trial prisoner can be detained) and he has undergone 50 per cent of the sentence for the offence which he is alleged to have committed.

The accused was extradited from Dubai and has been in custody since then and the investigation is still not complete, his counsel had said.