New Delhi [India], May 27 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of former AAP MLA Naresh Balyan in a case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). This was Balyan’s second bail application. He was produced before the court through video conferencing.
Balyan has been in custody since December last year in connection with an organised crime syndicate allegedly run by gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu. He was arrested on December 4, 2024, in the case.
Delhi Police opposed the bail plea, stating that there had been no change in circumstances except for the time spent in custody. The police added that the allegations against the accused are serious and that a supplementary charge sheet under Sections 3 and 4 of MCOCA had already been filed against him.
Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh dismissed the bail plea after considering the submissions and other facts. The detailed order is yet to be uploaded.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Akhand Pratap Singh appeared for Delhi Police and strongly opposed the bail application. He submitted that the defence counsel’s arguments had already been addressed by the predecessor court while deciding the earlier bail application.
“There is no new ground for seeking bail,” the SPP said, adding that Balyan had earlier withdrawn his appeal against the trial court’s bail rejection order from the High Court.
On the other hand, counsel for Naresh Balyan questioned the basis of the case, submitting that the approval for the registration of the FIR under MCOCA was not valid. Therefore, he argued, the entire proceedings emanating from the FIR were invalid.
Advocate M S Khan, along with Advocates Rohit Kumar Dalal and Rahul Sahani, appeared for Balyan. The defence submitted that Balyan had been in custody since December 4, 2024, even though the MCOCA approval was allegedly flawed.
The defence also pointed out that Balyan was previously arrested in another case on November 30, 2024, and had been granted bail. However, he was arrested in the present MCOCA case immediately after securing bail in the previous one.
The sole basis for implicating Balyan under MCOCA, according to his counsel, is an audio clip allegedly featuring conversations between Kapil Sangwan and Balyan. The defence argued that the clip had been known to the police for over a year and that the police misled the court by claiming that the clip came to the Investigating Officer’s (IO) notice only after the FIR was registered on August 28, 2024.
The defence added that the IO had sent a notice to a news channel regarding the audio clip on July 1, 2023, indicating that the police were already aware of the clip long before the FIR was filed. They also argued that there had been no new criminal activity on Balyan’s part justifying the invocation of MCOCA.
On May 7, Balyan withdrew his bail application from the High Court.
The Rouse Avenue Court had earlier, on May 5, accepted the supplementary charge sheet filed against Naresh Balyan and three other accused — Sahil alias Poli, Vijay Gahlot alias Kalu, and Jyoti Prakash.
The supplementary charge sheet, the second in the case, is the first one naming Balyan as an accused. It has been filed under Sections 3 and 4 of MCOCA. Section 3 has been invoked against three of the accused.
Earlier, the main charge sheet had been filed against Ritik alias Peter. The first supplementary charge sheet was filed against Rohit alias Anna and Sachin Chikara.
The court has been directed to hear arguments on charges daily from June 3. The judicial custody of all accused persons has been extended till the next date. The court has also asked the Delhi police to expedite the investigation regarding the accused Vikas Gehlot.(ANI)
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