NEW DELHI: A short while after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Naresh Balyan was granted bail in an extortion case by a Delhi court on Wednesday, he was arrested again by Delhi Police in a separate FIR. Balyan was taken into custody on charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). He will be produced in Dwarka court on Thursday.
Reacting to the fresh arrest, AAP said, “BJP yet again misused its agencies and imposed MCOCA, misusing terrorism laws on the legislators of AAP. This arrest is only to silence Arvind Kejriwal, who is regularly questioning Union home minister Amit Shah on the failed law and order situation in Delhi.”
During the hearing of his bail plea in the extortion case Wednesday, Delhi Police informed the court that they would arrest the MLA under MCOCA. “We will be arresting him right now,” special public prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh submitted before the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Paras Dalal, who rejected the prosecution’s request for 14-day judicial custody.
‘Investigation can’t pick and choose evidence’
Advocate Sujan Singh and others appeared for Balyan. The court dismissed their plea for his arrest in a fresh case filed under MCOCA, saying there can be no direction from it to IO, who may proceed as per law. The court said the plea was not maintainable. The court, saying it is not convinced with the investigation carried so far, observed, “The alleged audio clip which is the main link of alleged criminal conspiracy between gangster Kapil and present accused/applicant has yet not been forensically examined or verified despite having been seized 15 months back.”
Noting that Balyan himself filed three complaints dated Dec 19, 2023, March 7, 2023 and May 5, 2023 of having received threats from gangster Kapil, the court said that the three victims who joined the investigation denied having ever heard about the involvement of Balyan with gangster Kapil’s gang.
“The investigation cannot pick and choose as to the evidence gathered during investigation. It was the duty of IO to forthwith investigate the authenticity of the alleged audio conversation seized in Aug 2023 and then even the complaints of the accused/ applicant should have been investigated. Till date, no other associate of accused/ applicant has been named or arrested. There is no evidence of any criminal nexus till date and no money trail has been found in the investigation. Even all the allegations are of year 2023 and none of the victims is stated to have been threatened since then,” said the court.
The court also granted one day to Balyan’s counsel to file a reply on prosecution’s application to collect his voice sample. In the morning, police had moved an application before the court of additional sessions judge Vandana Jain in Dwarka court seeking Balyan’s interrogation in relation to the MCOCA case while he was in police custody in the extortion case. The Dwarka court allowed this application. In the evening, police told the court of ACJM Dalal in Rouse Avenue that they were arresting Balyan as he did not cooperate during the interrogation.
In a statement, AAP said, “Delhi is becoming a den of gangsters and extortionists. Balyan is himself a victim who received threats to life and extortion calls from gangsters against whom he filed five written complaints from 2022 and 2023 but no action was taken. On the contrary, false cases have been fabricated by BJP against him. However, people of Delhi are aware of these tactics and will deliver a fitting response in the assembly elections.”
