NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh challenging his arrest in the Delhi Liquor scam case and has also challenged the remand granted by the trial court.
The matter was heard by a bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma where Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari argued that the action of arresting a reputed person in the country has taken place without following procedures. For more than one year, until now, I was never called by the Enforcement Directorate, the lawyer said.
“Suddenly on October 4, they came to my house, carried out a search, took my mobile phone, and some papers and later in the evening arrested me. Dinesh Arora gives different answers to the same question, he eventually starts speaking what the agency wants him to say,” submitted Sanjay Singh’s lawyer.
Zohaib Hussain appeared for ED and said that he has just received the copy an hour ago. He shall put in the reply and there was a judicial mind applied by the trial court and he has been sent to judicial custody just today.
Noting the submissions, the Court listed the matter for October 17, 2023 for a detailed hearing.
The trial Court on Friday also sent Sanjay Singh to Judicial Custody till October 27, 2023.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently arrested Sanjay Singh after a day-long questioning by the ED officials at his Delhi residence.
Sanjay Singh’s party colleague and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia of Delhi was also arrested in the same liquor policy scam case in March month this year.
ED claimed that Singh and his associates played a part in the Delhi government’s decision to give licences to alcohol shops and merchants in 2020, causing losses to the state exchequer and violating anti-corruption laws.
ED has previously searched a number of locations including the homes and offices of Sanjay Singh’s close associate Ajit Tyagi and other contractors and businessmen who allegedly benefited from the policy. In its nearly 270-page supplementary charge sheet, the ED has called Sisodia a key conspirator in the case.
The Delhi liquor scam case or the excise policy case pertains to allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge that has been strongly refuted by the AAP.
ED, last year filed its first chargesheet in the case. The agency said it has so far undertaken over 200 search operations in this case after filing an FIR after taking cognisance of a CBI case which was registered on the recommendation of the Delhi lieutenant governor.
The CBI inquiry was recommended on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010.
The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval. The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection. (ANI)