If the arrest is not made as per the rules, then the accused will have to be released, the Supreme Court said clearly

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ordered the release of Bhushan Steel owner Neeraj Singhal. Singhal is accused of fraud of Rs 46,000 crore. The Supreme Court said that the ED did not follow the correct procedure during the arrest. The Supreme Court said in its decision that no matter how serious the crime, if the investigating agency does not follow the correct procedure during the arrest, the accused should be released. A bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar accepted the petition for Singhal’s release. The court admitted that the allegations against Singhal are serious. These allegations cannot be taken lightly as they affect the economy and cause instability in the market. However, the court also said that the ED did not tell Singhal the reason for the arrest in writing. According to the Supreme Court order, it is necessary to give the reason for the arrest in writing. ED did not do so, so Singhal got relief. The court said, ‘We have to work according to the law. The procedure has not been followed here. This caused instability in the market and the accounts were manipulated. This is a fraud on the society, but the law was not followed.

This mistake should not be repeated in future: Supreme Court

The court said that the agency will not repeat this mistake in future. The court also said that the courts will have to be strict in case of non-compliance of rules. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Singhal, said that he/she has been in custody for about 16 months and the decision of the apex court in the Pankaj Bansal case was not followed. However, the bench refrained from commenting on whether Singhal can be arrested again. Justice Khanna said, ‘I do not know whether you can arrest him/her again or not. I am not completely sure about this. I would not like to say anything on this.’

On what conditions was he/she released?

The court directed that Singhal be released on conditions to be decided by the lower court. Apart from this, he/she will have to submit his/her passport and not leave the country. Singhal had approached the apex court against the January 8 order of the Delhi High Court. The High Court had rejected his/her bail plea and petition challenging the arrest.