HC reserves order on Anil Jaisinghani’s plea against “illegal arrest”

Senior advocate Mrigendra Singh for Jaisinghanis informed the bench that on March 19 Anil had been arrested from Godhra, Gujarat for blackmailing and attempting to extort ₹10 crore from Fadnavis. However, he was not produced before a magistrate between Godhra to Mumbai and was instead produced before a sessions judge in Mumbai after 36 hours and the same was against the law

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday reserved its order on the petition filed by bookie Anil Jaisinghani and his cousin Nirmal Jaisinghani, claiming that their detention by Gujarat police and subsequent custody taken by the Mumbai police was illegal for procedural lapses.

Mumbai, India - March 20, 2023: Anil Jaisinghani, bookie from Ulhasnagar, arrested by the Mumbai crime branch from Gujarat’s Godhra. He was named as a co-accused in the case related to the alleged blackmailing of Amruta Fadnavis, wife of deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, at CP Office, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

The duo, arrested by the Malabar Hill police for allegedly trying to bribe and blackmail Amruta Fadnavis - wife of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, has claimed that their detention and subsequent remand orders were also illegal.

The division bench of justices AS Gadkari and justice PD Naik was hearing their petition filed through advocate Manan Sanghai for quashing the remand order by the sessions court as their arrests were illegal. The bench was told that the police had violated sections 41 (arrest without warrant) and 41A (notice of appearance issued by the investigating officer) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) while arresting them.

Though the petition had also sought quashing of the FIR filed against them at Malabar Hill police station on February 20, on Friday they said they were not pressing for relief, but sought directions against their illegal detention.

The FIR was registered on February 20 against Anil and his daughter Aniksha for allegedly trying to blackmail Amruta Fadnavis by threatening to make public some audio and video clips that would make it appear that the latter was accepting favours from her.

Senior advocate Mrigendra Singh for Jaisinghanis informed the bench that on March 19 Anil had been arrested from Godhra, Gujarat for blackmailing and attempting to extort ₹10 crore from Fadnavis. However, he was not produced before a magistrate between Godhra to Mumbai and was instead produced before a sessions judge in Mumbai after 36 hours and the same was against the law.

“My client was arrested in Gujarat by the police there. He had FIR against me in Gujarat for the last two years, why would they not arrest me for the FIR there? Everything was being monitored by the husband of the complainant who is the home minister in the Maharashtra government,” the lawyer contended.

However, advocate general Birendra Saraf for the state government and Mumbai police submitted that the police had followed all requisite procedures and there was no delay in taking Jaisinghani in custody. AG Saraf argued that Jaisinghani was detained on March 20 at 5 pm as per the arrest memo and was later produced before the special court under the Prevention of Corruption Act at 11 am on March 21.

AG Saraf added that as travel time is to be excluded under CrPC and it was necessary to produce Jaisinghani before a competent magistrate, he was brought to Mumbai. However, the petitioner’s counsel refuted the travel time exclusion point and stated that it was to be part of the 24-hour limit within which the accused was to be produced before the magistrate. Singh added that after detention Anil should have been produced before the nearest magistrate.

Meanwhile, a special court under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Friday reserved its order on the bail pleas of Anil and Nirmal.

The police on Friday objected to the pleas, claiming that the entire conspiracy was planned for Anil’s benefit and expressed apprehension that Anil Jaisinghani will abscond after release on bail. “Accused was absconding for several years and it cannot be said that he will be available for trial,” special public prosecutor Ajay Misar argued.

Anil and Nirmal were arrested on March 20 near Kalol toll plaza in Gujarat after a three-day search.

Court allows MP police to take Anil Jaisinghani’s custody

Meanwhile, the special court on Friday allowed the Madhya Pradesh police to take Anil Jaisinghani’s custody in a case registered against him in 2020 under the provisions of the Excise Act. The MP police informed the court that a chargesheet has been filed in the case but they could not proceed with the trial, as Anil Jaisinghani was absconding.