The Supreme Court of India has granted bail to AAP leader Sanjay Singh in the Delhi liquor policy case today.
Arguing for the release of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on bail in the Delhi excise policy case, his lawyer on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that Singh was arrested one-and-half years into the investigation.
On March 19, the Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna about the arrest of Sanjay Singh after the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) ‘star witness’ and accused-turned-approver Dinesh Arora named him in his statement.
In his statement, the counsel (Singhvi)pointed out that Arora did not name Singh in the first 9 statements that he gave.
On 12th March, the Supreme Court said that it would hear a plea lodged by AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who challenged an order of the Delhi High Court which refused to grant him bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam on March 19.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra was informed by the counsel appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that they would file their reply to Singh’s plea during the day. The counsel added that the apex court had on February 26 issued notice to the probe agency seeking its response on the plea. He said the reply was ready and would be filed.
Meanwhile, a separate plea filed by Sanjay Singh challenging his arrest and remand in the money-laundering case also came up for hearing before the bench. Both the pleas would now come up for hearing on March 19.
The Delhi High Court had on February 7 rejected the bail application of the AAP leader, who has been re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Delhi, but directed the trial court to expedite the trial once it starts. Sanjay Singh was arrested in the money laundering case by the ED on October 4 last year.
AAP leader Singh had sought bail in the Delhi High Court on the grounds that he has been in custody for over three months and no role has been attributed to him in the predicate offence. The investigation agency had opposed the bail plea claiming 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 nodal agency further asserted 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.