Delhi HC grants relief to AAP MLA Jarnail Singh

In a relief to Aam Aadmi Party's legislator Jarnail Singh, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted him protection from arrest till May 18 for allegedly assaulting a civic body engineer and preventing him from carrying out his duty.

Justice Sunita Gupta asked Singh to appear before the investigating officer on Thursday and join the probe and thereafter when required.

The court posting the anticipatory bail plea of Singh for May 18, asked him not to induce or threaten any person related to the case. The court also asked him not to tamper with evidence and not to leave Delhi without prior permission of the court.

"He (Singh) is directed not to make, directly or indirectly, any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the accusation against him so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer nor will tamper with evidence," said the court in its order.

The court was hearing an anticipatory bail plea of Singh, the Tilak Nagar legislator who is also accused of tearing up official documents and threatening to frame South Delhi Municipal Corporation junior engineer Athar Mustafa in a false case of corruption.

The scuffle took place when Mustafa, with his team and policemen, went to bring down an illegal structure in Krishna Park Extension area.

The trial court on Saturday rejected Singh's anticipatory bail plea, after which he moved the high court.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain opposed Singh's plea and said custodial interrogation of the legislator is required for the recovery of torn demolition order, his mobile phone, and to elicit the details of the persons who joined him in causing obstruction to the government officials in discharge of their official duties.

"Jarnail Singh is not an ordinary member of public. He is an elected member of the society who has to promote rule of law and order and not anarchy," argued ASG.

"What is the duty of MLA -- to promote unauthorised construction, to create ruckus and hooliganism?" asked ASG while opposing the bail plea.

Senior advocate and AAP member H.S. Phoolka told the court that Singh should not be arrested as most of the charges in the FIR are bailable offences and nothing is required to be recovered from him.

"There is no need of custodial interrogation. Singh has been falsely implicated in the case. He was the one who had made police complaints about the incident. After the FIR was registered, Singh was present in the police station from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and was neither detained nor arrested," Phoolka argued.

He said the MLA is ready to join the investigation.

Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Tuesday told media that Singh is absconding after his alleged involvement in assault on a municipal engineer.

Phoolka denied the police chief's claim, saying he was giving misleading statement to media.