Delhi Excise Policy: Court Permits Sanjay Singh to Collect Rajya Sabha Election Certificate

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Wednesday directed the jail authorities to take Sanjay Singh to the Returning Officer’s (RO) office on January 12 to receive the election certificate with appropriate security.

Singh had submitted his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on January 8, 2024.

It is to be noted that AAP MP Sanjay Singh and former Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia were presented before the court from judicial custody.

The Rouse Avenue court provided interim bail to Sarvesh Mishra until the disposal of his regular bail application. Mishra is facing charges along with Sanjay Singh in the Delhi Excise Policy money laundering case. Simultaneously, the court extended the judicial custody of AAP MP Sanjay Singh and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia until January 20, 2024.

Special Judge MK Nagpal granted interim bail to Sarvesh Mishra upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and one surety in the same amount. The court granted time to the Investigating Officer (IO) to submit a reply on Sarvesh Mishra’s bail application. Mishra, summoned to appear before the court, couldn’t do so due to his father’s hospitalization, who is battling cancer. The court permitted his application for exemption for today only, and he was charge-sheeted without arrest.

The court also directed the prison authorities to consider sympathetically Sanjay Singh’s application, requesting a directive to provide him with a table and chair and allow him to carry some books in judicial custody. Additionally, the court instructed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit a fresh list of unrelied documents related to the case.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh and Sarvesh Mishra face arrest and have been charge-sheeted in the Delhi Excise policy money laundering case. On December 19, the court took cognizance of the supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against AAP MP Sanjay Singh and his associate, Sarvesh Mishra.

On December 2, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and his alleged associate Sarvesh Mishra in a money laundering case related to the excise policy case. Sanjay Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on October 4.

The ED labeled it as the fifth supplementary chargesheet in the case, which is currently at the stage of scrutiny of documents. The ED claimed that Sanjay Singh was involved in a conspiracy to collect kickbacks from liquor groups in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22. Allegedly, Singh had close relations with now approver Dinesh Arora, who introduced accused Amit Arora to Sanjay Singh. The ED asserted that Singh received proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 2 crore.

Earlier, the ED contended that Singh and his associates played a role in the Delhi government’s decision to grant licenses to alcohol shops and merchants in 2020, causing losses to the state exchequer and violating anti-corruption laws. The ED had conducted searches at various locations, including the residences and offices of Sanjay Singh’s close associate, Ajit Tyagi, and other individuals who purportedly benefited from the policy. In its nearly 270-page supplementary charge sheet, the ED implicated Sisodia as a key conspirator in the case.

The Delhi liquor scam case, or the excise policy case, revolves around allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 facilitated cartelization and favored certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes. This charge has been vehemently denied by the AAP. The ED had filed its initial chargesheet in the case last year, stating it had conducted over 200 search operations after filing an FIR based on the CBI’s recommendation. The CBI inquiry was initiated following the Delhi chief secretary’s report, showing prima facie violations of various laws related to the Delhi excise policy.