New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted permission, for the second time, to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, to attend Parliament in police custody and take oath as a Rajya Sabha MP.
Sanjay Singh was arrested and chargesheeted in the alleged excise policy money laundering case.
The development comes after Singh was not allowed to take oath on Monday.
A source from Rajya Sabha Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar’s office had said, “Proceedings of Rajya Sabha are regulated by the listed business which is notified in the bulletin. The oath taking of Sanjay Singh wasn’t listed in the business of the House and no communication from Rajya Sabha on this matter ever came for consideration of the Rajya Sabha Chair.”
Special Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court, on Tuesday, allowed Singh to go to Parliament on either February 8 or February 9.
The Judge directed the jail authorities to take Singh to the Rajya Sabha under judicial custody and appropriate security for the oath administration process.
Singh’s lawyer has been allowed to visit Tihar Jail to meet him and obtain his signatures on relevant documents required for the oath-taking ceremony.
Singh’s counsel informed the court that certain documents need to be signed by him and submitted to the Rajya Sabha office to finalise the oath-taking date.
Notably, some matters concerning Singh are pending before the Committee of Privileges, including the alleged deliberate disregard of directions of the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Singh on October 4, 2023 after carrying out searches at his residence in the North Avenue area. His suspension was ordered on July 24, 2023, and on August, 11, 2023, the House passed the order. As per that, his suspension continues.
On February 1, the court had issued a notice to the ED on Singh’s application seeking interim bail from February 4 to 10 to attend the ongoing Parliament session.
Judge Nagpal had also extended till February 17 the judicial custody of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Singh, who appeared physically before the court.
The judge had allowed Singh’s request to take the oath in judicial custody, withdrawing his above-mentioned application for interim bail.
Singh had also cited a court appearance in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on February 7 as the reason for his request.
The Delhi High Court had on January 31 reserved its judgment on Singh’s bail plea. Singh had moved the High Court seeking bail on January 4 after Special Judge Nagpal dismissed his plea on December 22. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma reserved the order after hearing arguments from both the sides.
(IANS)
