The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to give any relief to Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the Excise Policy scam case.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma rejected Singh’s petition, which challenged both his arrest and judicial remand.
The High Court, while noting that ED was a premier investigator agency of the country, asserted that the court ‘cannot and will not’ be a part of the discussion in absence of material on record which proved the same.
The national agency was represented by Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju.
It said though Singh was a political figure, he had to be placed on an equal footing as any other accused in a criminal case.
The single-judge Bench noted that though every person has a right to protect public image, however, upholding that right could not come in the way of the right of the State to investigate a crime.
Justice Sharma observed that this court would not insinuate political motive to the investigating agency (ED) in absence of any material on record at this stage, adding that courts were best left untouched by such influences and were only bound by the oath.
Noting that the petition was premature at this stage and the investigation was still to take place, the High Court dismissed the plea. It said the Court did not find any reason to interfere with the order of remand or the arrest.
Earlier on October 13, the Rouse Avenue District Court had sent Singh to 14 days judicial custody. Special Judge M.K. Nagpal remanded Singh to judicial custody after his police custody ended on October 13.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader had approached the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Earlier mentioning the matter before the Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula, the counsel for Singh argued that the AAP leader was not served the grounds of his arrest properly.
Earlier on October 5, Special Judge Nagpal had remanded Singh to ED custody till October 10 in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
ED had arrested Singh on October 4 after conducting raids at his residence.
Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain, representing ED before the Rouse Avenue Court, argued that an amount of about Rs two crore was exchanged at Singh’s residence. He said the same was confirmed by businessman Dinesh Arora’s CA after search at 239 places.
The national agency said it needed custody of Singh to confront him with digital evidence, including evidence from his phone.
Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for Singh, opposed the 10 days’ remand on the grounds that it was an absurd proposition for someone who was not involved at all.