Ex-Mumbai police chief seeks bail in NSE phone tapping case, alleges political vendetta
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NEW DELHI: Sanjay Pandey, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner has made a bail appeal at a Delhi court in a case related to the alleged phone tapping of NSE employees, saying that the ED proceedings against him are a result of political vendetta.
The plea will be heard on August 2 before Special Judge Sunena Sharma.
In his plea, Pandey said that he had investigated and prosecuted several high-profile and politically sensitive cases and the current action was "a political fallout of honest and sincere discharge of his duties as a senior police officer".
"The instant case is clearly motivated by political considerations and it is also evident from the fact that an offence that allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2017 is being investigated in 2022 i.e., 13 years after its purported commencement and five years after its purported closure; and that too within a week of the applicant emitting his office," he said.
The petition states that there was a huge delay in the registration of the FIR, which casts serious doubt on the integrity of the investigation.
"It appears that the applicant (Sanjay Pandey) is arraigned in the present case, for no fault of his own, and only to fulfil some political vendetta," it said.
The court has issued a notice to the ED on the application and sought its reply on August 2, PTI reported.
Pandey was arrested by the investigating agency on July 19 in the case.
The ED arrested former NSE MD Chitra Ramakrishnan on July 14 following her interrogation after taking permission from the court, where she was produced from jail on an order passed by the judge earlier.
The judge had issued a production warrant against Ramakrishnan on a plea moved by the ED. After she was produced, the ED took permission from the court to interrogate her.
Later, the agency arrested Ramakrishnan for non-cooperation, produced her again before the court and asked for a nine-day custodial interrogation. But the court granted four days of custody.
Ramakrishnan, who was arrested by the CBI in another case, was in judicial custody.