"Court Asked About Money, Probe Agency Had No Answer": AAP On Sanjay Singh Bail

Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi made it clear today that the Supreme Court hearing, after which party leader Sanjay Singh was granted bail, has vindicated the party's stand on several counts. The primary one was that the Enforcement Directorate, which has been investigating the alleged liquor scam over the last two years, has been unable to trace the alleged bribe money or find its trail -- a point that AAP has made repeatedly. The other was the alleged coercion of witnesses, which too, was indirectly touched upon during today's hearing.

The central agency has arrested a handful of leaders in the case, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently in Tihar jail, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi's K Kavitha.  Mr Kejriwal's former deputy, Manish Sisodia, was arrested in February last year.  

"The court asked where the money trail was. A search for that money trail has been on for the last two years. Today, when the court asked, the Enforcement Directorate had no answer," Atishi told reporters.

Mr Singh's bail today came after the court specifically questioned why he had been jailed for over six months without trial or even the recovery of alleged bribe money.

"Nothing has been recovered... there is no trace (of the Rs 100 crore the AAP allegedly received as bribes for allotting liquor licences to the 'South Group')," said the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Prasanna B Varale.

Secondly, witnesses were prepared against AAP leaders, Atishi said. "People were made approvers by threatening and intimidating them. When people did not say anything against AAP, they were broken and then statements were made against Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders,' she said.  

"Today, the whole country came to know that the so-called liquor scam stands on the basis of false witnesses," she added.

The top court, during the hearing today, observed that Delhi industrialist Dinesh Arora, an accused-turned-approver, had not actually implicated Sanjay Singh in his initial statements.

The court's observation came as senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Mr Singh, declared that Mr Arora's statements had improved over time. And then, the "10th statement of Dinesh Arora becomes gospel truth. Statement on date of arrest is put by them in unrelied documents. Is this a cat and mouse game?" he said.

Mr Singh was arrested after Dinesh Arora's later statement that he had handed over Rs 1 crore to a person linked to the AAP leader. The ED had "pounced" on Mr Singh a press conference he held, Mr Singhvi said. "Perhaps my press conference was foolish, but you can be foolish and outspoken in a free country," he added.

While releasing Mr Singh, the court pointed out that the bail was being granted under Section 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act -- a point that might go in his favour in future.

Under the section, a court can release the accused only if it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing him guilty or likely to commit further offence.