Delhi High Court dismisses Sanjay Singh plea against arrest by ED in Excise Policy case

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected the petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and his subsequent remand in the money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy scam case. .Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma dismissed Singh's plea this evening, while observing that the ED is a premier investigating agency and that imputing political motives to it may have an impact on the image of the country.The Court further said that there is nothing on record at this stage to conclude that Dinesh Arora (an approver whose statements contributed to Singh's arrest) had made his statements under duress or in violation of the law. It added that the arguments made by Sanjay Singh's counsel that evidence was planted against the AAP leader cannot be considered at the present stage. .The case before the High Court concerns Singh's October 4 arrest after the ED conducted a search at his residence. On October 5, he was initially remanded to ED custody till October 10, which was later extended till October 13. On October 13, he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days..Singh moved the High Court arguing that his arrest was an abuse of the legal process.Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari represented Singh and argued that he is a reputed leader who was never issued any summons or called for questioning.Referring to the Supreme Court's October 3 judgment in the M3M Reality case (Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India), he also asserted that the grounds of arrest must be furnished in writing by the ED before carrying out the arrest."Supreme Court has said something very unique. In one para, they say that ED is a premier agency and it must be fair. The Supreme Court has said they can't be vindictive. yet, they continue to be the judge, jury and executioner," Chaudhari added..The case against Singh involves allegations that he played a key role in framing and implementing the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy, which was allegedly aimed at benefiting certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.Singh's arrest marked the third high-profile arrest of an AAP leader in the excise policy case.AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair was arrested in September 2022. Former Deputy Chief Minster of Delhi Manish Sisodia was arrested in February 2023. Both are still behind bars..Delhi High Court seeks ED response on plea by Sanjay Singh challenging arrest, remand in Delhi excise scam case.Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhary along with advocates Rajat Bhardwaj, Vivek Jain, Mohd Irshad, Ankita M Bhardwaj, Kanishk Raj, Kaustabh Khanna, Rishi Sehgal, Arveen Sehhon and Nikita Gill appeared for Sanjay Singh.ED was represented through Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, ED’s Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain as well as advocates Vivek Gurnani and Kartik Sabharwal..[Read Judgement]