J&K HC adjourns hearing till May 22 on ED plea to cancel bail to Cong candidate Lal Singh

Jammu, May 8 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday heard a petition of the Enforcement Directorate seeking cancellation of bail to Congress Lok Sabha poll candidate Lal Singh and his wife and adjourned the matter till May 22 after the ED failed to submit its grounds for the same.

The single judge bench of Justice Rajneesh Oswal also heard the petitions filed by Singh and his wife Kanta Andotra who sought quashing of cases filed by the ED and the CBI.

Singh, the Congress nominee from J-K’s Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, was arrested by the ED last year in connection with a money laundering case against an educational trust run by his wife and former legislator Andotra. A special court in December granted ‘absolute’ bail to Singh.

During hearing on Wednesday, lawyer R K Kotwal, appearing for Singh and his wife, raised concerns about the absence of charges against government officials.

CBI counsel and senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli informed the court that a supplementary charge sheet has been filed against the Kathua-based educational trust — R B Educational Trust — run by Singh’s wife. Then the court called for the records.

Kohli also requested the court for expeditious hearing in the matter as the trial before a designated court was stayed.

The CBI had in 2020 registered a criminal breach of trust and corruption case against the educational trust.

Besides naming the trust, in which Singh’s wife and son are the members, the others named in the charge sheet included the then patwari.

The court asked the ED counsel, who appeared through video conference, about the grounds for cancellation of bail.

The counsel argued that the ED had submitted its grounds in a sealed cover through the investigation officer, but the submission was not found in the court records.

The judge adjourned the matter till May 22 giving time to the ED for filing its reasons for cancellation of bail to Singh and his wife.

A special court in December granted ‘absolute’ bail to Singh.

Singh, who was then the chairman of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party, was granted the interim bail by the court on November 23 after his arrest in Jammu on November 7. His bail was confirmed on December 23.

“…since petitioner has complied with the conditions of the bail, so no further proceedings are required in the present application. Therefore, interim bail granted to the petitioner is made absolute, of course all conditions drawn shall remain alive pending proceedings, if any, by way of complaint by the ED,” Principal Sessions Judge (special court designated under PMLA), Jammu, Sanjay Parihar, had said in a three-page order.