The Delhi High Court dismissed a plea moved by Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh challenging his remand
and arrest in the alleged liquor ‘scam’ case.
Sanjay Singh through plea had stated that he is
neither a suspect nor an accused and despite one main charge sheet and two
supplementary charge sheets having been filed for more than one year, there is
absolutely no involvement of the petitioner at all to date.
The Bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma passed the
order and stated that the court did not find any reason to interfere with the
order of remand or the arrest.
The petition is premature at this stage and the
investigation is still to take place, stated the High Court.
On the last date of the hearing, appearing for ED, Additional
Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju submitted that Singh had been arrested in the
interest of investigation after following the due process of law.
“During the investigation, it is revealed that Sanjay
Singh is also a part of a conspiracy of the Delhi Liquor Scam and is closely
related to Dinesh Arora and Amit Arora. He has been part of collecting kickback
and has received proceeds of crime to the tune of 2 crore,” the ED’s counsel
submitted.
“The trial court, which passed the order, has perused
the case paper that reasons have been recorded in writing and thus it is in
compliance with the Section 19. Facts stated nowhere show that his arrest is
unwarranted or unreasonable. Even his contention regarding remand application
mechanically without considering is wrong and misleading. General submissions
are made off the cuff. The remand is not mechanical and there is total
application of mind,” he said.
Earlier, appearing for Sanjay Singh, Senior Advocate
Vikram Chaudhari argued that the action of arresting a reputed person in the
country had taken place without following procedures. For more than one year, until
now, I was never called by the Enforcement Directorate, the lawyer said.
“Suddenly on October 4, they came to my house, carried
out a search, took my mobile phone, and some papers and later in the evening
arrested me. Dinesh Arora gives different answers to the same question, he
eventually starts speaking what the agency wants him to say,” Singh’s lawyer
argued.
The trial Court last week sent Sanjay Singh to
Judicial Custody till October 27, 2023.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently arrested
Sanjay Singh after a day-long questioning by the ED officials at his Delhi
residence.
Sanjay Singh’s party colleague and former Delhi Deputy
Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also arrested in the same liquor policy scam
case in March.
ANI
