Delhi HC issues notice in ex-MLA’s bail plea

A bench of justice Manoj Jain directed the Delhi Police, represented by special public prosecutor Amit Prasad and Akhand Pratap Singh, to file a status report and scheduled the next hearing for July 3

New Delhi

Balyan approached the high court against a city court order rejecting his second bail application. (Representational photo/HT Archive)

The Delhi high court on Wednesday issued a notice in former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Naresh Balyan’s plea, seeking bail, in connection with a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) case lodged against him with links to UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan.

A bench of justice Manoj Jain directed the Delhi Police, represented by special public prosecutor Amit Prasad and Akhand Pratap Singh, to file a status report and scheduled the next hearing for July 3.

“Issue notice. Let an updated status report be filed by the Delhi police with advance copy to the opposite side. List before the roster bench on July 3,” the court said in its order.

The court also directed Tihar Jail officials to file a report on Balyan’s health. “Besides regular bail, the petitioner is also seeking interim bail on medical grounds. Superintendent, Tihar Jail, is also requested to send a nominal roll and report about his medical condition by the next date of hearing,” the court said in its order.

Balyan approached the high court against a city court order rejecting his second bail application. On May 27, a trial court refused to release Balyan on bail, concluding that there were no reasonable grounds to rule out his involvement in the case. In its 22-page order, the court also underscored the impact of a criminal nexus between a politician and a gangster. “The criminal nexus between a politician and a gangster is perhaps the most perilous threat confronting a nation and its citizens and must be addressed with severity,” special judge Digvijay Singh said.

In the high court petition, Balyan’s counsel, senior advocate Sunil Dalal, asserted that he had been incarcerated since last December and that he no longer needed to be held as the police had completed their investigation of him. The plea contended that he was arrested “frivolously”, based on past FIRs and confessional statements given by two co-accused, and that there was an absence of specific or fresh allegations against him. The present case, Balyan in his plea said, represented a misuse of the stringent provisions of MCOCA.

Balyan was arrested by the Delhi Police on December 4, 2024, in a case lodged by the Anti-Gang Squad (AGS) of the Crime Branch in Dwarka, over allegations of organised crime and extortion, shortly after he was granted bail in the extortion case. The extortion case stemmed from a May 31, 2022, incident, wherein a complainant received threatening messages from a caller identifying himself as Kapil Sangwan. The caller allegedly demanded ₹1 crore and threatened the victim of dire consequences if the amount was not paid.

On January 15, the city court rejected his bail application, following which he approached the high court. The same was subsequently withdrawn on May 8, in view of the Delhi Police filing the charge sheet.

On May 1, the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet against Balyan, alleging that he used his political clout to financially support Sangwan’s syndicate and shield its members from arrest. The police further claimed that the former Uttam Nagar MLA allegedly used virtual private networks (VPNs), an encrypted messaging app, to communicate with Sangwan in the UK and reportedly used phones registered in the names of family members to evade detection.