Delhi court seeks ED's reply on Sanjay Singh's bail plea by Dec 6

Sanjay Singh. File Pic

A court in Delhi on Tuesday directed the Enforcement Directorate to file by December 6 its reply to an application by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh seeking bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam, reported news agency PTI.

Special Judge M K Nagpal issued notice to the central probe agency on the application, which claimed that no purpose will be served by keeping Singh in further custody, reported PTI.

The judge also directed the ED to provide a copy of the reply to the accused, reported PTI.

The application, filed by the accused on November 24, has claimed that he is no longer required for custodial interrogation and that no purpose will be served by keeping him in custody, reported PTI.

It claimed that the investigation against Singh was complete and there was no chance of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses, reported PTI.

Sanjay Singh, who is currently in judicial custody, also claimed in the application that he was ready to abide by any condition imposed by the court, reported PTI.

The anti-money laundering agency had arrested Singh on October 4. The ED has alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped policy, which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, for monetary considerations, reported PTI.

Singh has strongly refuted the allegations, reported PTI.

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 cartelization 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 cognizance 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.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)