NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to Aam Aadmi Party senior leader Sanjay Singh in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Excise Policy case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma refused to grant relief to Singh at this stage in the money laundering case.
However, the high court asked the trial court to expedite the trial once it begins so that the rights of the accused will be protected.
The court said, it will be subject to the condition that both Singh and the prosecution should not seek unnecessary adjournments in the case.
Last week, the high court had reserved its order on the bail plea of Singh after hearing submissions of both sides.
Earlier, ED had submitted that Singh was allegedly involved in creating a special purpose vehicle to launder “proceeds of crime” that would have been generated from the business arising out of the changes in Delhi excise policy.
The ED submitted that Singh was involved in acquiring, possessing, concealing, dissipating and using proceeds of crime generated from the Delhi liquor scam pertaining to the policy period of 2021-22.
The agency further claimed that the AAP leader has gained illegal money or kickbacks which are proceeds of crime generated from the liquor policy (2021-22) scam and that he has also played a role in conspiracy with others. The investigation has revealed that Singh has received `2 crore proceeds of crime, ED said.
“It is evident that Sanjay Singh was involved in creating a special purpose vehicle (M/s Aralias Hospitality Pvt Ltd) to launder the proceeds of crime that would have been generated from the business arising out the policy changes as conspired by him and his co-conspirators," it said.
"Furthermore, Singh was then involved in acquiring, possessing, concealing, dissipating and using proceeds of crime generated from the Delhi liquor scam pertaining to the policy period of 2021-22," it added.
The Rajya Sabha member, arrested by the ED on October 4 last year, has challenged a trial court’s December 22 order dismissing his bail plea in the money laundering case.The ED’s contentions were made in its affidavit filed in response to Singh’s bail plea in the money laundering case.
