Stock Exchange Snooping: Mumbai Police Ex Chief Moves Court For Bail

Former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey has moved a Delhi court seeking bail in a case of alleged phone tapping of NSE employees, claiming that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) proceedings against him were the result of a political fallout.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing on August 2 before special judge Sunena Sharma.

In his petition, Mr Pandey said he had investigated and prosecuted several high-profile and politically sensitive cases, and claimed that the present proceedings were "a political fallout of honest and sincere discharge of his duties as a senior police officer."

"The instant case is clearly motivated by political considerations and it is also evident from the fact that an offence that allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2017 is being investigated in 2022 i.e., 13 years after its purported commencement and five years after its purported closure; and that too within a week of the applicant emitting his office," he said.

The application also said that a huge delay was caused in the registration of the FIR, which raised serious doubts on the bona fides of the investigation.

"It appears that the applicant (Sanjay Pandey) is arraigned in the present case, for no fault of his own, and only to fulfil some political vendetta," it said.

The court has issued a notice to the ED on the application and sought its reply on August 2.

Mr Pandey was arrested by the investigating agency on July 19 in the case.

The ED arrested former NSE MD Chitra Ramakrishnan on July 14 following her interrogation after taking permission from the court, where she was produced from jail on an order passed by the judge earlier.

The judge had issued a production warrant against Ms Ramakrishnan on a plea moved by the ED. After she was produced, the ED took permission from the court to interrogate her.

Later, the agency arrested Ms Ramakrishnan on grounds of non-cooperation and again produced her before the court, and urged for a nine-day custodial interrogation.

The court, however, had granted four days' custody.

Ms Ramakrishnan was arrested by the CBI in a separate case, and was in judicial custody.

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