NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) national president MK Faizy under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged financial links with the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
Following his arrest at Delhi airport, Faizy was presented before the Patiala House Court, where Special Judge Chander Jit Singh granted the ED six days of custody.
He is scheduled to be produced before the court again on Monday after the remand period ends.
The court also directed ED officials to ensure that his medical needs were met and to make necessary arrangements should he choose to observe Ramzan. Additionally, Faizy’s legal counsel was permitted a 15-minute meeting with him during custody.
The ED had initially sought a 10-day custody period, arguing that Faizy needed to be questioned regarding alleged illegal fund transfers, the money trail, and financial dealings linked to the case.
Special Public Prosecutors Simon Benjamin and Naveen Kumar Matta, representing the ED, contended that Faizy had longstanding ties with the PFI, having been a member since its inception before establishing SDPI in 2009.
ED officials arrested Faizy at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport while he was traveling from Kochi. The agency claims that SDPI functioned as a political front for PFI and that funds worth crores were funneled through undisclosed channels.
Officials insisted that Faizy’s custodial interrogation was necessary to confront him with documentary evidence and three key statements in the case. Faizy’s legal team, led by Advocates Satyakam and Saipan Dastgir Shaikh, opposed the ED’s plea, arguing that he had already been questioned for three days and that all evidence against him was documentary in nature.
“If all that remains is recording his statement, that can be done even in judicial custody,” his counsel asserted. The defense further pointed out that the alleged fund transfers took place between 2017 and 2019—before PFI was b a n n e d i n S e p t emb e r 2022—questioning how the transactions could be classified as proceeds of crime.
The lawyers also dismissed claims of foreign funding, stating, “SDPI has no financial links with PFI, nor does it receive funds from abroad.” Countering the arguments, ED prosecutor Matta argued that Faizy had consistently evaded questioning despite being summoned 12 times.