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Singh has moved the high court challenging his arrest and remand by the ED in a case related to the excise policy scam case. He was arrested on October 4 by the ED in the money laundering case
In Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh's plea challenging his arrest and ED remand in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari appearing for Singh contended before the Delhi High Court that, "This is rampant abuse of process of law".
The senior counsel contended, “This action of arresting a reputed leader in the country without showing a sham or pretense of complying with due process is an act that deserved your indulgence….The question is the rampant abuse of process of law. On August 17, 2022, CBI registered an FIR. Till today, after 1 year and 2 months, I have note even been called; no summons”.
“PMLA is a child in the womb of the mother. Mother is the predicate offence. No notice or summon was ever issued to me. I wasn’t called for any inquiry or investigation. 1 year has passed and no notice under Section 50 PMLA is there. No summons was issued to me. On October 4, in the morning they came to my house, with a search and seizure operation, and at 5:25 pm in the evening I was arrested”, Chaudhari contended.
“Today, we have the Supreme Court judgment in the Pankaj Bansal case, wherein the court has said that the grounds of arrest have to be furnished in writing”, he argued. Chaudhari contended, “It’s high time the agency’s bluff is called out”.
Taking note of the submissions, the bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the ED and sought its response on the plea.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for hearing on October 17, 2023 at 11:30 am.
Proceedings before Trial Court
Special Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court, today remanded the AAP leader to 14 days Judicial custody. He will be produced before the court on October 27. Notably, on October 10, the Judge extended the remand of Singh to Directorate of Enforcement (ED) custody further till Friday i.e. October 13.
On October 10, the trial court directed Singh not to give an interview to the media while being produced and also asked the press not to ask him questions. The judge had said, "Talking to the media while appearing in court creates a security problem".
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) NK Matta had submitted that there was a transaction of Rs. 200 crore, in two tranches and it had been delivered to Singh. The same was confirmed by Dinesh Arora (accused, who turned approver). He had also submitted that searches were conducted yesterday and statements had also been recorded. "A total of 239 places were searched and documents have been found. We have to confront him with digital evidence", he had added.
Background
Singh was arrested on October 4 by the ED in the money laundering case. According to reports, Singh was taken into custody after day-long searches on his residence. This is the third high-profile arrest in the case.
The AAP MP was arrested a day after, a Delhi Court allowed Raghav Magunta son of YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and businessman Dinesh Arora, both accused in the case to "turn approvers".
In the Prosecution complaint filed by the ED, Sanjay Singh's name appeared in a statement by Arora.
Arora and Magunta were arrested by the agency earlier this year and are out on bail. Besides the two, businessman and AAP's communication in-charge Vijay Nair was also arrested in September 2022, and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia was arrested in February, this year.
Case Title: Sanjay Singh v. Union of India & Anr.
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