News Brief
AAP MP Sanjay Singh
On Thursday (21 December), a Delhi court prolonged the judicial custody of Sanjay Singh, a senior leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), until 10 January in the excise scam case.
Judge MK Nagpal specifically requested the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to supply a copy of their fifth supplementary charge sheet and associated documents to Singh. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, was taken into custody in connection with a money laundering case linked to the supposed scam.
In the course of the hearing, the counsel for the ED requested additional time to provide the prosecution complaint (the ED's version of a charge sheet), along with previous prosecution complaints and a few other documents, to Singh.
According to PTI, he stated that the matter regarding the identity of one of the prosecution witnesses was yet to be resolved by the witness protection committee.
The attorney stated that a digital version of the additional complaint, in which the confidential witness was referred to by an alias 'Alpha', has been given to the AAP leader in compliance with the court's instruction.
The court has ordered that, in addition to all previous chargesheets, relied upon documents, and the fifth prosecution complaint using an assumed name, copies must be provided to the accused's counsel by 23 December, pending decisions from the competent authority.
Brief timeline:
4 October: Singh was arrested by the anti-money laundering agency.
2 December: The ED submitted its fifth prosecution complaint against Singh, and the court acknowledged it on December 19.
11 December: The court decided to prolong his judicial custody by an additional 10 days.