AAP leader Sanjay Singh not allowed to take oath as Rajya Sabha MP
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Jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh was not allowed to take oath as Rajya Sabha MP on Monday as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar refused to permit him, saying that the matter was currently with the privileges committee.
The Rajya Sabha's privileges committee is probing a breach of privilege case against Singh. Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on July 24 last year for not following the directions of the chair.
Singh, who was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, was renominated by the AAP for another term in Rajya Sabha in January.
The AAP also nominated former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal, and chartered accountant Narain Das Gupta to the Rajya Sabha.
Sanjay Singh had approached Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on February 1 seeking interim bail for seven days to take oath as Rajya Sabha MP and to attend the ongoing Parliament session from February 5 to February 9.
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However, he later modified his application and asked permission to go to Parliament to take oath only.
The Delhi court, while extending his judicial custody till February 17, permitted Singh to go to Parliament under police custody and take oath as a Rajya Sabha MP on February 5.
Special judge MK Nagpal had directed the jail authorities to take Sanjay Singh to Parliament at 10 am on Monday to take the oath.
The senior AAP leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year.
The AAP leader had moved a regular bail application on December 22, 2023, which was dismissed by the trial court. He then approached the Delhi High Court on January 3. The court had reserved its order.
During the hearing, the ED opposed the bail petition, saying Sanjay Singh as involved in setting up a special purpose vehicle to launder the proceeds of crime generated from the business arising out of the liquor policy changes, he allegedly conspired with his co-conspirators.
The Delhi excise policy case pertains to allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it.
AAP has denied the charges. Sanjay Singh's party colleague and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been in jail since March last year in the same case.
