[Money-Laundering Case] SC Demands ED Response To AAP MLA Jaswant Singh’s Arrest Plea By June 7th

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A Vacation Bench led by Justice Aravind Kumar instructed the ED to submit its reply by Friday (7th June), the next date of hearing, after the agency’s counsel requested more time to respond to Singh’s plea.

[Money-Laundering Case] SC Demands ED Response to AAP MLA Jaswant Singh’s Arrest Plea by 7th June

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday (5th June), the Supreme Court directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to Punjab AAP MLA Jaswant Singh’s petition challenging his arrest and his application for interim bail in a money-laundering case.

A Vacation Bench led by Justice Aravind Kumar instructed the ED to submit its reply by Friday (7th June), the next date of hearing, after the agency’s counsel requested more time to respond to Singh’s plea.

Representing the AAP MLA, senior counsel Vikram Chaudhri and advocate Nikhil Jain argued that the ED had been served a copy of the petition on May 30 and had sufficient time to file its reply.

The bench emphasized that the matter would be addressed on June 7 and no further adjournments would be granted.

On May 29, the Supreme Court denied interim bail to Singh, who was arrested by the ED in connection with a money-laundering investigation related to a bank fraud case, to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. The polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab took place on June 1.

The Bench had stated it would not grant any relief to the AAP MLA without hearing from the ED.

However, the court had issued a notice to the ED, requesting the agency to respond to Singh’s petition against his arrest and his application for interim bail.

Previously, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed Singh’s plea challenging his arrest, stating there was no illegality. The high court noted,

“We do not find any manifest illegality in the orders of remand and subsequent proceedings.”

Jaswant Singh, an MLA from Amargarh, argued that his arrest violated Section 19 (1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. However, the high court pointed out that he was provided with written grounds for his arrest, as evidenced by his signatures, which constituted substantive compliance with Section 19(1).

The AAP MLA was arrested on November 6, 2023, with the written grounds for his arrest given to him the same day, the high court observed.

In May of the previous year, the CBI conducted raids on premises linked to Jaswant Singh in connection with a Rs 40 crore bank fraud. In September 2022, the ED raided several locations associated with him as part of a money-laundering investigation related to the alleged bank loan fraud, seizing Rs 32 lakh in cash, mobile phones, and hard drives during the raids.