Journalism of Courage
A Delhi court on Saturday disposed of an application moved by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who had alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was creating “fictitious” grounds by citing pest control as a reason to shift him to a local police station lockup where he could be tortured far from the line of sight of a CCTV camera.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull disposed of the plea after the ED clarified that the pest control was pre-planned and it had no intention of shifting Singh. The judge observed that the plea had become infructuous after the ED’s submissions.
Singh was placed under arrest by the ED in connection with the alleged Delhi excise scam earlier this week and granted five days’ custody by a city court. Through his counsels, Singh has expressed apprehensions for his safety citing an alleged bid by the agency to shift him to a police lockup late in the night on October 5 on the basis of “weird and strange” reasons.
Dr Farrukh Khan, Changhez Khan and Prakash Priyadarshi, the advocates who moved the application on behalf of Singh following their meeting with him after his first night in custody on October 5, stated that late in the night, the ED tried to shift him from the premises of its headquarters at Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Road to the Tughlak Road police station citing the spraying of pesticide in the cell where he had been lodged.
“…upon being asked about the reason of the said shifting…the applicant/accused was provided with very weird and strange reply…that the said proposed shifting is being initiated due to use of pesticide in the lock up…,” the application said, adding that Singh had reasonable apprehensions that this was being done on “fictitious” grounds as part of a veiled bid to subject him to torture.
“…It is also beyond reasonable comprehension…that the so-called premier investigating agency…has only one lock up in the entire head quarter…even if pesticide, as claimed, has been used in the said lock up…the applicant/accused ought to have been shifted to another lock up/remand room situated at the Directorate of Enforcement’s Headquarter…,” the application further stated.
After Singh refused to be shifted, according to the application, he was “made to sleep outside the lock up and was subject to inhuman treatment”.
The application also stated that according to the court’s orders granting five days’ custody to the ED, the agency was required to ensure that Singh’s interrogation “only be conducted on such place having CCTV coverage in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and the said CCTV footage shall also be preserved”.
“…In lieu of the above said direction, as contained in para 15 of the order…the respondent is only trying to shift the applicant/accused…so as to purposefully deviate and defy from direction…,” it stated.
Singh, according to the application, also had the apprehension that the reason behind the creation of a “bogus ground” to shift him to the Tughlak Road police station was “…ensuring that for such torture, which may be inflicted upon the applicant/accused, there are no CCTV footage…”.
The plea requested that directions be issued to not shift Singh to any other location from its headquarters till he was in the ED’s custody.
In response, the special counsel for ED submitted that the pest control was taken up in the lockup at the ED’s office, which was planned on October 3, prior to lodging Singh there.
“It is further submitted that since the applicant/accused had refused to be shifted to the other place due to pesticide treatment in the lockup room, therefore his consent was taken in writing for keeping him in interrogation room at the ED office,” the ED submitted.
The agency’s counsel further submitted that the ED has no intention of shifting the AAP MP to the lockup at Tughlak Road police station since the work of bug control at the lockup in the ED office was completed.
“In light of submissions made…the application filed by applicant/accused has become infructuous and stands disposed of accordingly,” the judge observed.
A Delhi court had on Thursday remanded Singh to five days in ED’s custody in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. Special Judge M K Nagpal heard the case at the Rouse Avenue Court, a day after Singh was arrested following more than 10 hours of ED searches at his home.
The ED had sought 10-day custody, alleging that Rs 2 crore illegal cash changed hands at Singh’s official North Avenue residence. Calling Singh a “key conspirator” in the case, the ED said in its remand application that he is “closely associated with a number of accused/suspects”, including businessmen Dinesh Arora — who turned approver in the case on Tuesday — and Amit Arora.
