A Delhi court on Monday sent Vikas Mishra, the brother of Trinamool Congress leader Vinay Mishra, to judicial custody till April 4 in a money laundering case registered against him regarding coal mining scam.

Special CBI Judge Anurag Sen passed the order after the Enforcement Directorate did not seek Mishra’s further custodial remand.

He was produced before the court at the end of his six-day custodial remand. Advocates Neeraj Shekhar, Ashutosh Thakur and Abhishek Pandey represented Mishra while Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta appeared for the Enforcement Directorate.

Earlier on March 16, the court had sent Mehra to six-day custodial remand of the Enforcement Directorate.

Special CBI Judge Ajay Gulati passed the said orders after Mishra was produced before it.

“I find that the custodial interrogation of the accused Vikas Mishra is necessary to unearth the conspiracy, to trace the proceeds of the crime and to confront the accused with other witnesses/documents/evidences,”

-the court said.

Also Read: Supreme Court to hear Gautam Navlakha’s bail plea tomorrow

Special Public Prosecutors Naveen Kumar Matta and Nitesh Rana had argued that 14-day custodial remand is necessary to confront the accused with various evidences, documents and witnesses.

The SPPs had further argued that the probe is at a crucial stage and a number of witnesses are yet to be examined.

New Delhi (ILNS): The Delhi High Court today issued notice on a plea challenging the appointment of Special Public Prosecutors (SSPs) and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the cases related to North East Delhi riots.

The bench headed by Justice Navin Chawla was hearing a plea filed by Delhi Prosecutors Welfare Association seeking quashing of Delhi government’s June 24 notification appointing 11 SPPs in the Delhi Riots case. The petitioner association has submitted that the notification was issued on police recommendations, in violation of the scheme provided under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The petition further seeks appointment of independent SPPs in accordance with the principles of “fairness and impartiality”.

The bench, while issuing notices, sought response from the Delhi Government and the Delhi Police. The bench further directed the petitioner to implead the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the matter on being informed by ASG Sanjay Jain that the appointment was made by the Centre, hence it should be included as a party to the proceedings.

Senior Counsel Vikas Pahwa appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the post of a public prosecutor being an independent one, the Police cannot decide as to who would represent them since  it would defeat the purpose of free trial.

Read Also: Delhi riots case: Judge grants bail in poetic fashion