E-Paper
Delhi Court denies bail to AAP’s Sanjay Singh, says charges valid
Sanjay Singh is accused of receiving ₹2 crore in irregularities. Court dismisses arguments of illegal arrest and lack of evidence.
A Delhi court on Friday dismissed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh’s plea for bail in a money laundering case registered in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, with the judge observing that there was reasonable ground to believe Singh was connected with the “proceeds of crime”.
Read here: Delhi court denies bail to AAP MP Sanjay Singh in excise policy scam case
Singh, a member of Rajya Sabha, was arrested on October 4 under provisions of the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA), and is accused of receiving ₹2 crore as part of what federal agencies claim were irregularities in the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22.
“The evidence and material is also sufficient to furnish this court reasonable grounds for believing that he is ‘guilty’ of the offence in terms of provisions contained U/S 45 of the PMLA and, thus, it can be said that the conditions laid down by the said section for grant of bail to the applicant in the present case are not satisfied,” said special judge MK Nagpal.
While dismissing the bail application, the court refuted the arguments raised by Singh that his arrest was illegal, and observed that there is no “irregularities” or “illegalities” in Singh’s arrest and remand.
It also dismissed the submission that Singh’s name had not appeared in the first information report (FIR) registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), based on which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated its case, nor had he been charge-sheeted in CBI’s case till date.
The court observed that it was not necessary for Singh to be named in the first information report or be charge-sheeted in the main excise policy case for him to be made an accused in the money laundering offence, because the offence under PMLA depends upon the connection of an individual, directly or indirectly, with the proceeds of a crime, even though these activities may be independent of the crime itself.
The court, while dismissing the bail application, also took into consideration of the evidence produced before the court, including the statements of accused-turned-approver Dinesh Arora and other witnesses, regarding the allegations that Singh is connected to the proceeds of crime to the tune of ₹2 crore.
“The oral and documentary evidence produced on this aspect shows that the said amounts were meant to be delivered by the approver Dinesh Arora to the applicant only and the same were delivered through the above associate of applicant, namely Sarvesh Mishra and he accepted or received the same on behalf of the applicant,” the court said in the order.
The court further noted that contradictions or inconsistencies being raised by defence counsels in the statements of witnesses cannot be given much weight and will be a matter of trial and rejected Singh’s contention that Arora may have given statements because he was induced with a promise of a pardon.
The order noted that such risk is always present when a tender of pardon is offered to a witness but there was nothing to show that ED acted malafidely.
Read here: Delhi court reserves order on AAP MP Sanjay Singh’s bail petition
The court also refused Singh’s contention that no portion of the ₹2 crore was recovered from Singh or no other documentary evidence was found to show a money trail implicating Singh, saying recovery of money is not always necessary and since transactions were allegedly made in cash, no documentary evidence of a trail could have been recovered.
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.
