New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea by former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh seeking temporary bail to visit his ailing mother.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted before a bench, headed by Justice M.R. Shah that Singh, the accused in the Religare Finvest money-laundering case, is a flight risk.
Counsel representing Singh submitted before the bench, also comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna that it is a humanitarian plea since his client's uncle passed away and his mother was also not keeping well.
Opposing Singh's plea for temporary bail, Mehta said: "He is accused of liabilities which are Rs 2,400 crore. He is a flight risk." He added that there appears to be something suspicious here and the court should not be swayed by the humanitarian grounds.
The bench agreed with Mehta's submissions that Singh is a flight risk. "In terms of serious allegations, it seems that if the petitioner is released on interim bail, he may be a flight risk," it said.
The bench noted that relief had been granted earlier to Singh on account of death of someone. After hearing arguments, the bench said: "the application for interim bail stands rejected."
In December last year, the Supreme Court had said it expects a fair investigation and investigating agencies should be neutral, as it asked Delhi Police to conclude the probe, by December 15, in a case against Singh.
The Delhi High Court had cancelled Singh's bail, noting that his detention was necessary to unearth the "conspiracy hatched by him" and trace the alleged siphoned off money.
Singh had moved the top court against the Delhi High Court order, which came on Religare Finvest Ltd plea challenging the trial court order passed on March 3, 2021 granting bail to him in the case registered against him by the Delhi Police's EOW for cheating, criminal conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust.
In March 2019, the EOW had registered an FIR after it received a complaint from RFL's Manpreet Suri against Singh, former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd Sunil Godhwani and former CEO Kavi Arora and others. It was alleged that loans were taken by them while managing the firm, but the money was invested in other companies.
The incident took place on Tuesday during a demonstration by the BJP in front of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's official residence over the Delhi Disaster Management Authority's (DDMA) order restricting celebration of Chhath Puja in the national capital.
The minister and his son are accused in the October 3 incident in which nine persons, including four farmers, were mowed down by SUVs. The minister's son Ashish Mishra has already been arrested.
It's likely that Sidhu will put forth the list of demands in the Punjab government as he is upset with the appointments in the government. He has resigned from the post of state president, but it has not been accepted yet by Sonia Gandhi. The meeting gains significance as it comes ahead of the CWC meeting.
The civil secretariat houses the top offices of the government, including those of the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and his advisors. Police tried to intervene to restrain the mourners from carrying out the sit-in outside the civil secretariat.
"My son will go to the police tomorrow and assist the probe. He has not escaped anywhere," Mishra said on his arrival in Lucknow. He said that his son was very much in their house in Lakhimpur.
Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday proceeded on indefinite fast in support of his demand for action against Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra and main accused in Sunday's violence in which nine persons, including four farmers, were killed.
