Amruta Fadnavis bribe case: Court grants bail to designer Aniksha Jaisinghani

“The Sim card that was used to demand money is not registered in Aniksha’s name. We also need to find the handsets that were used by them to demand Rs 10 crore from Amruta,” Misar said.

He also told the court that the bag in which Aniksha is allegedly seen filing money also needs to be traced. “The origin and whereabouts of the cash needs to be traced,” said Misar, adding, “We also want to check whether there is any political connection to the conspiracy.”

The prosecution also claimed their investigation was at a “crucial stage” for which police custody was necessary.

Defence lawyers Mrigendra Singh and Manan Sanghai, however, argued that the “police were dancing to the tune of the complainant’s husband”, who is the deputy chief minister and also holds the charge of the Home department”. “The wife of the deputy chief minister has made an allegation that Rs 10 crore was demanded by a woman who was her dress designer. But she doesn’t disclose why the money was demanded,” Singh told the court while opposing the plea for police custody.

The defence lawyers also claimed that after registering the FIR on February 20 and before arresting Aniksha, Amruta met Aniksha three times at five-star hotels. “She could have been arrested then,” Singh told the court.

He further argued that the Sim card, which the police claimed was used to make the alleged extortion demand, was activated on March 20, a day after Anil Jaisinghani was apprehended from Gujarat and the Sim card was deactivated on March 22. The bag which the police claim they are looking for is already “with the police”, Singh further claimed.

Singh further told the court that “there is a threat to his (Anil Jaisinghani) son’s life. We are being threatened that he will also be taken into custody in the case… His son’s whereabouts are also not known.”

“I (Anil Jaisinghani) have apprehension that I may be murdered if I remain in their custody,” Singh, representing Jaisinghani, told the court.

After hearing both sides, special judge D D Almale sent Jaisinghani and Nirmal to judicial custody for 14 days.

Soon after, a team from Madhya Pradesh Police moved an application seeking Jaisinghani’s custody in a case registered with them at Dhamnod police station. Subsequently, the defence also filed an application seeking bail for Jaisinghani and Nirmal.

Later in the day, the police submitted a reply to the bail plea filed by Aniksha’s lawyers. The police, in their reply, said, “The arrested accused had not only gained access to the residence of the complainant at Malabar Hill but had also made a video recording of her conversation with the complainant without her knowledge. An investigation is also being conducted as to whether or not she intended to do any harm. The accused should not be released on bail before the investigation is completed.”

The police also claimed that during the course of investigation, the accused did not give any information about the Sim card and the handset from which the alleged WhatsApp messages on Rs 10 crore ransom were sent.

“If the woman is granted bail, it is more likely that the Sim card and phone handset, which is a crucial piece of evidence, will be destroyed,” the police’s reply stated.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the special court’s judge passed an order granting bail to Aniksha.