The Supreme Court has taken up the interim bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab MLA Jaswant Singh, allowing notice to be issued to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while declining to pass an ex-parte order. Singh seeks bail to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, with a hearing slated for June 3 before a vacation bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Aravind Kumar.
Singh's plea challenges the Punjab and Haryana High Court's decision upholding his arrest by the ED. He faces allegations of being a director and guarantor of M/s TCL, a company accused of obtaining loans and credit facilities. Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhary, representing Singh, urged the bench to grant interim bail, citing the imminent Punjab state elections scheduled for June 1, seeking relief until June 4.
This legal saga unfolds amid previous raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last May on properties linked to Singh, regarding an alleged bank fraud of Rs 40 crores. The ED also conducted raids on various premises associated with him as part of a money laundering investigation related to the purported bank loan fraud.