Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Sanjay Arora on Tuesday argued before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of an ongoing fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab.
The submission was made before Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry during the hearing of a petition challenging Arora's arrest by the ED in a money laundering case.
Senior Advocate Puneet Bali, representing Arora, said,"This is a case of political victimisation. I want to show two orders passed by mylords recently where mylords have safeguarded from political vendetta. I am seeking parity."Bali said the case against Arora was a shocking case of political vendetta."Two matters have come to you from the other side. This is from one more side," he added.
Bali was referring to recent interventions made by Chief Justice Nagu in cases of two former AAP MPs Sandeep Pathak and Rajinder Gupta. Pathak and Gupta along with five other AAP MPs recently joined the BJP.After Gupta's security was subsequently withdrawn by Punjab Police, the High Court directed the State government to ensure that no harm comes to him or his family members residing in Punjab.
Similarly, in a petition filed by Pathak, the Court recorded an assurance from the State government that no coercive steps would be taken against him without seeking prior permission of the Bench.
The Court today said that Arora's case will be heard on May 14. He has urged the Court to declare his arrest illegal.Arora was arrested by the ED on May 9 in a money laundering case alleging bogus purchase and export of mobile phones by Hampton Sky Realty Limited. Arora was the Chairman and Managing Director of the company when the alleged offences took place, as per the ED.
A Special PMLA court in Gurugram on May 9 remanded Arora to ED custody till May 16.The agency has alleged that the exports were without any actual movement of goods and were used as a conduit for remittance of foreign exchange from abroad to India. Arora has been accused of violating provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Challenging Arora's custody, Bali submitted that he was challenging the remand order as well his arrest.Bali alleged that despite Supreme Court's clear directions, the FIR was not uploaded by the police. The FIR was registered at 1:50 am without any preliminary inquiry, he added."This is draconian. You register an FIR and don't give copy? I have a screenshot of the portal of police, it says blocked," Bali told the Court.Without waiting for any investigation by police, the ED registered a case under the prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Bali said further.
"It is absolutely illegal. It is absolute case of political vendetta," Bali argued.Bali also argued that ED had to failed to take any similar action against MP Ashok Mittal, who recently joined the BJP.
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