Sanjay Singh’s mother said she is happy that her son has been granted bail
New Delhi:
Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh’s mother Radhika Singh could not hold back her tears as she spoke to WhatsNew2Day after her son was granted bail by the Supreme Court today, almost six months after the Enforcement Directorate, or ED, arrested him in the Delhi liquor policy case.
“Yeh khushi ke aansu hain (These are tears of happiness),” she told WhatsNew2Day.
The Rajya Sabha MP was arrested from his home in the national capital on October 4, 2023. Just before the ED officials took him away, Mr Singh walked into his mother’s room and touched her feet. He sought her blessings and walked out before she could even respond.
“When he came in that day and touched my feet, I thought he had come and sat with me. Who knew he was being arrested? His arrest shocked me so much that I just cried. We thought, how could this happen when they had found no evidence against him?” she told WhatsNew2Day today.
Watch: AAP MP Sanjay Singh touches mother’s feet before probe agency officials take him away pic.twitter.com/1k98voTXcX
— WhatsNew2Day (@WhatsNew2Day) October 4, 2023
“We knew nothing about his arrest. All we knew was that they (the investigating agencies) had found nothing against him. We were sure he wouldn’t be arrested. So when he came to touch my feet, I had no idea. Then everyone started saying that he was being taken away and when I saw him sign a paper I found out that they were taking him away. “I was so desperate, I cried a lot,” she added.
The news of his son’s bail came suddenly but not unexpectedly, she said.
“The news of his bail came suddenly and made me very happy. Why shouldn’t he get bail? He is innocent. He was honest and not corrupt. I was convinced he would never be arrested. But then he was… It’s going well… Whoever has the power will…” She trailed off.
Sanjay Singh is also the first AAP leader to get bail in the case. “Yes, he is the first AAP leader to get bail in connection with the case. I am very happy. I continually thank God for his bail,” Ms Singh said.
Sanjay Singh was released today after the ED said it did not want his further custody. The agency told the court it would grant bail to Mr Singh “without addressing the merits of his argument”.
However, the Supreme Court posed several questions to the ED asking why he was kept in jail for over six months without trial or recovery of the alleged bribe of Rs 2 crore.
“Nothing has been recovered… there is no trace (of the Rs 100 crore the AAP allegedly received as bribes for awarding liquor licenses to the ‘South Group’)…” the top court told ED.
Mr Singh was arrested on charges of money laundering and has been in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since his arrest in October last year over the alleged excise scam, which pitted Manish Sisodia and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ahead of a crucial general election were arrested.
The AAP leader’s previous bail applications were all rejected, with the Supreme Court saying in February that “no basis” for relief had been shown.