Fertiliser scam: RJD MP Amarendra Dhari withdraws plea challenging remand order

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Amarendra Dhari Singh, arrested in a money laundering case related to an alleged fertiliser scam, withdrew his plea from the Delhi High Court on Wednesday in which he had challenged trial court's order granting his 10-day custody to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Singh's counsel informed Justice Navin Chawla that his plea is pending before the trial court and urged that his application there be decided without taking into consideration certain observations made in the remand orders.

The high court noted in its order that the bail plea be decided by the trial court without considering the observations made in the remand orders.

"The petition is disposed of as withdrawn," the high court said.

The ED was represented through advocate Amit Mahajan.

Singh, a member of Parliament and a businessman, was arrested by the ED on June 2 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is in judicial custody.

Singh, through senior advocate Siddharth Aggarwal, had sought setting aside of the trial court's June 3 remand order sending him to 10-day ED custody claiming that the special judge's order suffered from complete non-application of mind and passed mechanically without proper appreciation of peculiar facts of the case, material on record and the prevailing law.

The petition said the complaint dates back to April 2013 and the CBI registered an FIR for the alleged offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy under the IPC and under the Prevention of Corruption Act in May 2021.

Pursuant to the FIR, a search/raid was conducted at Singh's residence and office premises on May 19 this year in which he and his employees duly cooperated.

The next day, that is May 20, the ED also registered a case against him and between May 20 and June 2, when he was arrested, no summons were issued to him to join the investigation.

"The respondent agency (ED) has not offered any justification for suggesting that the immediate and unprecedented arrest was necessary. In the remand application, the respondent has sought to justify the arrest and remand of the petitioner (Singh) on the ground that he is required to be confronted with voluminous documentary record. It is pertinent to note that the said exercise can be conducted without arresting the petitioner," the plea said and sought release of Singh.

The case pertains to an alleged fertiliser scam linked to the IFFCO and India Potash Limited (IPL), in which the CBI had registered a corruption case last month.

Singh is stated to be the senior vice president of a firm, involved in the case, identified as Jyoti Trading Corporation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)