No illegality in arrest by ED: HC on AAP MLA Gajjanmajra’s plea

AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a ₹40-crore bank fraud case.

The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has dismissed a plea of AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), observing that the arrest was in consonance with Section 19(1) of the PMLA Act. Gajjanmajra, 60, was arrested in connection with a ₹40-crore bank fraud case on November 6, involving a company. He is among seven persons and companies named in the case.

In his plea before the Punjab and Haryana high court, AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra argued that he had been illegally arrested without compliance of safeguards in Section 19 (1) of the PMLA Act.

In his plea, he argued that he had been illegally arrested without compliance of safeguards in Section 19 (1) of the PMLA Act that states the arresting officer must have material in possession and reasons to believe that the person is guilty; and arrested person should be informed in writing about the grounds of arrest etc.

In September 2022, an ED team had raided Gajjanmajra’s house besides a school and a cattle feed factory run by his family in Amargarh. The ED registered the PMLA case against him after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched his properties in connection with a ₹40.92-crore bank fraud case in 2022. A sum of ₹16.57 lakh, 88 foreign currency notes and incriminating documents were recovered during the searches, the CBI had claimed.

The high court bench of justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and justice Kirti Singh further said that in the present case the special court had taken into account the nature of the case against him and the fact of his non-cooperation and other relevant factors while remanding him into police custody in an order of November 7, 2023. The order of remand which runs into six pages has been passed with due application of mind and not in a mechanically or in a routine manner.