Money Laundering Case: Supreme Court adjourns bail plea of AAP MLA Jaswant Singh for July 01, 2024

On June 18, 2024, the Supreme Court (SC) of India was hearing a plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jaswant Singh challenging the decision of the Punjab & Haryana High Court (HC) upholding his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering case linked to a bank fraud case in November. The vacation bench of the SC constituting Justice Vikram Nath and Justice SVN Bhatti adjourned the AAP MLA’s bail plea for July 01, 2024. Earlier on May 29, the top court had refused to grant relief to Jaswant Singh to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

During the proceedings on June 18, Advocate Kanu Agarwal who appeared for the ED requested the top court list the matter for hearing after vacations (after July 08, 2024) due to the absence of the Solicitor General of India. The SC bench listed the matter for July 01 noting that “Personal liberty is involved. He’s in jail. The Additional Solicitor General can argue, he is a competent counsel…Why is SG required in every matter?”