Delhi court extends Sanjay Singh’s ED custody by 3 days

The court said the extension of Singh’s ED custody was necessitated based on the discovery of new facts

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended by three days the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

New Delhi: AAP MP Sanjay Singh being taken to the Rouse Avenue Court by the Enforcement Directorate officials in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (PTI Photo)(PTI10_10_2023_000193A) (PTI)

The court said the extension of Singh’s ED custody was necessitated based on the discovery of new facts, and the recovery of fresh digital evidence in a recent search conducted by the federal agency. “In view of the facts and circumstances and the submissions made, this court deems it necessary to extend the ED custody of accused for a further period of 03 days and he shall now be produced before this court from ED custody on 13.10.2023,” said special judge MK Nagpal

In its charge sheet, ED alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the policy, and said that the policy had favoured several liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Singh has termed the charges “false and baseless”.

The federal agency sought extension of Singh’s custody on the ground that he has been non-cooperative in the investigation regarding acquisition of some confidential documents of ED related to this case. It was also submitted that he had refused to sign his call detail records (CDR) and had failed to share the whereabouts of his earlier phones.

ED further submitted that Singh has to be interrogated on some fresh evidence about an alleged demand of ₹4 crore made by his close associate on his behalf from a Punjab liquor businessman in exchange for the grant of a liquor licence, and that he has to be confronted with fresh digital evidence seized during recent search.

“It has been alleged that the discovery of facts through the oral testimony of a witness has not only revealed the role played by accused in grant of some liquor license in Punjab, but the witness has been told by a close associate of the accused regarding his role in grant of some liquor licenses in Delhi too against the payment of some monetary considerations,” the court noted in the order.

The court in its order observed that the alleged close associate has been summoned by the agency for interrogation on Wednesday, and he and Singh are to be questioned regarding the fresh evidence.

It also observed that Singh is also to be confronted with about 200 GB of data that has been recovered from the recent search, which is still being analysed.

Senior advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Singh, opposed the extension of custody, saying it will be violative of the fundamental rights of the accused as the application does not disclose reasonable grounds for extension of the custody. “They have to answer for each day, each hour, each minute and each second of the custody period,” she submitted.

John also submitted that no confrontation was done by the agency during the custody period, despite people, who were to be confronted with him, being present in the office.

She also argued before the court that the allegations that proceeds of crime worth ₹2 crore exchanged hands at Singh’s residence was not corroborated through the CCTV footages from the cameras present in the vicinity.

The court also granted permission to Singh to address the court, and he raised concerns about his safety, saying that he was being shifted from the ED lock-up to the Tughlaq Road police station. However, ED submitted that they had gotten pest control done and were shifting Singh for that reason.

It was also brought to the notice of the court that the advocates and family members who had gone to visit Singh faced harassment and were made to wait for considerable time. However, ED officials apprised the court that it happened only once as they were retrieving Singh’s email dump.