Delhi excise policy case: SC seeks response from Centre, ED on Sanjay Singh's plea against arrest

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti issued notice to the Centre and the ED, and asked them to submit their responses before December 11.

The bench ordered that if Singh files a petition for regular bail in the interregnum, then it should be considered independent of the observation made in the Delhi High Court's judgement dated October 20.

Singh, who was arrested on October 4 in the case, had moved the top court challenging the High Court verdict. In its order, the High Court had refused to interfere with his arrest in the case, saying it could not impute a political motive to a premier investigating agency in the absence of material on record.

It had also said that Singh's was not a "prima facie case of no evidence at all". The ED's money laundering case stems from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and undue favours were extended to licence holders.

It is alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the policy, which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, for monetary considerations.

After his arrest, the trial court had sent Singh to ED custody. On October 13, he was sent to judicial custody till October 27.