On Tuesday (19th march): AAP leader Sanjay Singh informed the Supreme Court that he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case without receiving any prior summons.
NEW DELHI: On Tuesday (19th March): Sanjay Singh, an AAP leader currently detained in connection with a money laundering case linked to the purported Delhi excise policy scandal, informed the Supreme Court that he had not received any summons before his arrest.
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A bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta entertained Singh’s plea contesting his arrest and subsequent remand in the money laundering case. The court scheduled further hearings for April 2.
Singh’s legal representative argued that his arrest followed a statement by Enforcement Directorate (ED) witness Dinesh Arora in July 2023, without any prior intimation or summoning.
Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Singh, emphasized,
“I (Singh) am named for the first time on July 19, 2023, by one Dinesh Arora. Before this date, there were nine statements by the same Dinesh Arora in which he never took my name.”
Arora, who was granted pardon and turned approver in the case, played a crucial role in Singh’s arrest.
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Singhvi highlighted the absence of any prior summons to Singh, asserting that ED officials directly apprehended him from his residence.
Earlier, Singh had contested a Delhi High Court order denying him bail in the money laundering case. The high court, while rejecting Singh’s bail plea on February 7, urged the trial court to expedite proceedings upon commencement.
Singh, re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Delhi, was detained by the ED on October 4 of the previous year in connection with the case.
In his bail plea before the high court, Singh emphasized his prolonged custody without any clear implication for the primary offense. However, the ED countered, alleging Singh’s involvement in various aspects of the Delhi liquor scam during the policy period of 2021–22, including acquiring, concealing, and utilizing proceeds of crime.
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The ED’s investigation into money laundering is an offshoot of the initial Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) FIR. Both agencies assert irregularities and undue favors extended during the modification of the now-repealed Delhi Excise Policy 2021–22.