New Delhi, May 29 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Union government and the Enforcement Directorate on the plea of Punjab legislator Jaswant Singh challenging his arrest by the central agency, as well as his application for interim bail.
A Vacation Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Aravind Kumar refused to grant any interim relief to Singh and directed the ED and the central government to file their reply in this regard within one week.
Singh has been behind bars for over six months in connection with a money-laundering case being probed by the ED.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on May 24 refused to quash his arrest and remand, leading to the instant appeal before the Supreme Court.
Singh, who is a representative from the Amargarh assembly constituency in Malerkotla, is accused of defrauding banks of ₹40 crore by misappropriating loans extended to his company.
He has alleged that how he was arrested violated Section 19 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA) and approached the Supreme Court to grant him interim bail to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha election.
The Bench declined to grant any interim relief to Singh through an ex-parte order saying that we cannot pass any order without first hearing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central government in the matter.
