The Delhi high court on Monday denied bail to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Naresh Balyan’s plea seeking bail in connection with a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) case lodged against him with links to UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan.
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“I’m dismissing it. End result is that we are dismissing it,” a bench of justice Manoj Jain said in the order.
A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.
He had approached the high court against the city court’s May 27 order, rejecting his second bail application.
On May 27, the trial court had refused to release Balyan on bail concluding that there were no reasonable grounds to rule out his involvement in the case. In its 22 page order, the court also underscored the impact of a criminal nexus between a politician and a gangster.
“The criminal nexus between a politician and a gangster is perhaps the most perilous threat confronting a nation and its citizens and must be addressed with severity,” special judge Digvijay Singh
In his petition before the high court, the former MLA represented by senior advocate Sunil Dalal had asserted that he had been incarcerated since December last year and his custody was no longer required as the cops had completed their investigation qua him.
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On May 1, Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against Balyan, alleging that he used his political clout to financially support Sangwan’s syndicate and shield its members from arrest. Police had further claimed that the former Uttam Nagar MLA allegedly used virtual private networks (VPNs), an encrypted messaging app, to communicate with Sangwan in the UK and reportedly used phones registered in the names of family members to evade detection.
The plea further added that he was arrested “frivolously”, on the basis of past FIRs and confessional statements given by two co accused, in the absence of specific or fresh allegations against him. The present case, Balyan in his plea said, represented a misuse of the stringent provisions of MCOCA.
Balyan was arrested by the Delhi Police on December 4, in a case lodged by the Anti-Gang Squad (AGS) of the Crime Branch in Dwarka involving allegations of organised crime and extortion, shortly after he was granted bail in the extortion case.
The extortion case had stemmed from a May 31, 2022 incident where a complainant received threatening messages from a caller identifying himself as Kapil Sangwan. The caller allegedly demanded ₹1 crore and threatened dire consequences if the amount was not paid.
On January 15, the city court had rejected his bail application following which he had approached the high court. The same was subsequently withdrawn on May 8, in view of the Delhi police filing the chargesheet.
On Friday, a Delhi court had discharged Balyan in an extortion case linked to absconding UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan, observing that in the absence of any direct evidence, police probe was conducted on the assumption that “suspects were the culprits”.
