Bookie accused in Amruta Fadnavis extortion case moves Bombay High Court to quash FIR

Bookie Anil Jaisinghani, accused in the case registered on complaint of Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the case..The plea filed through advocate Manan Sanghai said that Singhani was arrested illegally and should, therefore, be released immediately and the sessions court's remand order should be quashed.The plea was mentioned on Thursday before division bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and RN Laddha for urgent relief. It is likely to be listed for hearing on March 27. .The Malabar Hill police station had registered a first information report (FIR) on February 20 against Singhani and his daughter Aniksha Singhani for threatening to make public, certain audio and video clips that would purportedly show Fadnavis accepting favours from Aniksha. As per the complaint, Aniksha befriended Amruta over the past few months and gained her trust.Aniksha also allegedly asked Amruta to help get rid of cases against her father after which Amruta blocked her.A few days later, Aniksha allegedly sent recordings to Amruta to blackmail her after which a complaint was lodged..Jaisinghani has been booked for offences under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 385 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 8 (induce public servant using corrupt means) and 12 (abetment) of Prevention of Corruption Act..Jaisinghani claimed that the arrest was in violation of Sections 41 and 41A of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which lay down procedure for arrest. "Merely stating in the order that there is due compliance of CrPC is not sufficient in view of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. It is not an empty formality. The onus of recording satisfaction, as already stated, not only lies on the Investigating Officer but even on the remanding judge,” the petition said..Jaisinghani claimed he had been arrested on March 19 for blackmailing and attempting to extort ₹10 crores from Amruta Fadnavis. The prosecution, however, claimed that Jaisinghani was arrested on March 20, and was produced before the sessions court on March 23. He was remanded to police custody till March 27.His daughter meanwhile was arrested on March 16 and remanded to police custody till March 23. "Delay in producing the accused before the Magistrate and non-compliance of the mandatory provisions of the CrPC, by the police officials concerned, has caused grave prejudice to the accused," Jaisinghani claimed. The plea has sought direction from the court to declare detention of petitioners to be "illegal" and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under constitution.