The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by bookie Anil Jaisinghani challenging his โillegalโ arrest in an extortion and bribery case lodged by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavisโs wife, Amruta Fadnavis.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik dismissed the petition observing that it was devoid of merit.
Jaisinghani was arrested in Gujarat and is currently in judicial custody.
๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น
He had filed a petition claiming that he had been illegally arrested on March 19, but was not produced before the court within 24 hours, as mandated in law.
His advocates, Mrigendra Singh and Mannan Sanghai, contended that he was produced before the sessions court in Mumbai 36 hours after his arrest. They further alleged that the case was being monitored by the complainantโs husband, who is the stateโs home minister.
๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐: ๐๐
Denying the allegations, Advocate General Birendra Saraf said the police had followed the legal procedures and that there had been no delay in producing Jaisinghani before the court for remand.
As per the arrest memo, Jaisinghani was arrested on March 20 at 5pm and was produced before the sessions court on March 21, Saraf said.
Jaisinghani had also sought bail from sessions court, which was rejected on April 1. He continues to remain in judicial custody.
Opposing Jaisinghaniโs bail, the prosecution had pointed out that at one point there were 17 FIRs against him and that he had been absconding in many of them and the nature of the offence must be considered.
Jaisinghani has also been remanded to the custody of the Madhya Pradesh Police in an excise case.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐บ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐
On February 20, the Malabar Hill Police Station registered an FIR against Jaisinghani and his daughter Aniksha for allegedly threatening to make public certain audio and video clips that purportedly show Fadnavis accepting favours from Aniksha. They were booked for offences under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 385 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 8 (induce public servant using corrupt means) and 12 (abetment) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Aniksha, who was arrested on March 17, was granted bail in the case by a sessions court on March 27.
