NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the bail plea of AAP MP Sanjay Singh in the money laundering linked-excise policy scam case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Special Judge MK Nagpal reserved the matter and listed it for December 21 to deliver the verdict after hearing both the parties.
On behalf of Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, senior advocate Mohit Mathur argued that the Central agency had not called the accused for questioning even once before October 4, 2023, the day he was arrested. He submitted that his client is not seeking discharge of the case but wants to get bail which is “sacrosanct in the Constitution.”
He also claimed that there were ‘contradictions’ in statements made by Dinesh Arora, an accused who later turned as an approver in the case.
As per ED, Singh had a close relationship with Arora since 2017 as revealed by the latter as well as from his call records.
The remand note states that Singh has been a part of the conspiracy of collecting kickbacks from the liquor groups in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Singh’s associates, Vivek Tyagi, Ajit Tyagi and Sarvesh Mishra also have a close relationship with Dinesh Arora, it says.
Singh argued that evidence was planted against the AAP leader. During Tuesday’s hearing, the ED opposed Singh’s plea, claiming that the probe was still underway and that if released on bail, Singh could hamper the investigation, tamper with evidence, and influence the witnesses. The court, meanwhile, directed the ED to file written submissions, if any, within two days.
It also directed the counsel appearing for Singh to file a rejoinder within a day the reafter. In one of the previous hearings before the special court, appearing for Singh, senior advocate Rebecca John had argued that the ED had no ground for seeking extension of Singh’s custody in the case which was based on “shifting statements” of co-accused Amit Arora, terming the ED charges as “ fanciful allegations.”