SC adjourns hearing on AAP leader Sanjay Singh’s plea challenging his arrest

A double bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta after hearing Singh's plea against a Delhi High Court order, refused to set aside his arrest and issued notice to the investigating agency.

Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and has been in custody since October. He was arrested by the ED on charges of money laundering over alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of a now-scrapped liquor policy in Delhi.

The SC bench had earlier advised Singh to apply for regular bail. The court pointed out that a bail application would not preclude him from pursuing a legal remedy in the Supreme Court for a purported violation of Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Sanjay Singh, had in the previous hearing questioned the arrest made by the Enforcement Directorate, arguing that Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, lays down the requirements for a valid and lawful arrest, and provides for inbuilt safeguards against the arbitrary use of the power.

These include the mandate to inform the party about the reasons in writing for the belief regarding the involvement of the person in an offence of money laundering and to inform the person of the grounds of arrest, Singhvi said.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju informed the apex court that Singh had applied for regular bail in the Delhi High Court in which the oral arguments have also been concluded and the verdict is reserved.

The ASG said the order of the Delhi High Court may come out in a couple of days. So the hearing of this petition should be adjourned for a week.

Taking note of the submission, Justice Khanna listed the matter for March 5.

The Aam Aadmi Party MP had moved the Delhi High Court last month seeking bail in the money laundering case. A bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate and sought its reply.

The High Court had, after the conclusion of arguments on the bail application, reserved its verdict.

Sanjay Singh was arrested after the controversy on the framing of a new excise policy by the Delhi government arose.

The policy was said to have been framed to boost revenue and reform the liquor trade in 2021, which was later withdrawn after allegations of irregularities in implementation were made. Lieutenant-Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena had ordered a CBI probe into the matter.

The policy which sought to completely privatise liquor trade in the national capital, was allegedly used to grant undue advantage to private entities at the cost of the public exchequer, the ED and the CBI alleged.

The investigating agencies also alleged that there was a coordinated conspiracy to provide extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers, led by individuals including Vijay Nair acting on behalf of Manish Sisodia, former deputy chief minister of Delhi, a prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The investigation is currently on and has led to the arrest of Sisodia and others. Sanjay Singh, currently in judicial custody, was arrested by the ED on Oct 4 last year following searches at his residence in Delhi.

The CBI alleged that an employee of businessman Dinesh Arora delivered Rs. 2 crores to Singh's house on two occasions. Singh's arrest followed accusations made by Arora, who later turned approver in both the ED and CBI cases.

Last month, the Delhi High Court rejected the petition challenging his arrest and remand in connection with the money laundering case linked to the liquor policy scam.

Despite Singh's claim that the case was politically motivated, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the High Court emphasised that the court cannot interfere with the work of the Enforcement Directorate, a premier investigative agency, in the absence of substantial evidence supporting such allegations.

However, the order on Singh’s regular bail application was reserved in the Delhi High Court.