Allahabad High Court grants interim relief to AAP MP Sanjay Singh in 2001 protest case.

Allahabad High Court:- Granting interim relief to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in the 2001 case, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed the process issued against him by the Sultanpur court till today (August 22), the day when the High Court is scheduled to hear his bail plea.

Notably, the Sultanpur court had on August 20 ordered the Uttar Pradesh police authorities to arrest Singh and produce him before the court on August 28. The order was passed after Singh remained absent in the hearing of the case. However, while staying the issuance of process, a bench of Justice Karunesh Singh Pawar on Wednesday directed that he need not surrender before the trial court till August 22, as his review petition and bail application will be heard on Thursday.

The interim order was passed after Singh's counsel informed the Court that as a Rajya Sabha MP, Singh has to attend the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on August 22. Therefore, he may be exempted from surrendering/appearing before the concerned Court.

On the other hand, the AGA for the State cited Rule 18 of Chapter XVIII of the Allahabad High Court Rules and submitted that no application for bail can be entertained unless the accused has surrendered, except if he has been released on bail after conviction under Section 389(3) CRPC.

It was also submitted that since Singh has not yet surrendered/sought bail, the present review petition is not maintainable. However, the Court rebutted the argument, holding that the said Rule 18 does not put any bar on the inherent power of the High Court to exempt the requirement of surrender in exceptional circumstances.

While granting interim relief to Singh, the court said, "It cannot, therefore, be argued that the bar to filing a review petition for admission applies even if the case is made out on the application of the reviewer, the court in exercise of its inherent power considers it fit to grant exemption from surrender having regard to the nature and circumstances of the sanjay case." The high court also emphasised that criminal revision is maintainable before the high court even if the applicant is not in prison.

That in June 2001, a demonstration was held in Sultanpur, in which former SP MLA Anoop Sanda, Sanjay Singh and others protested against the poor power supply of the state. A case was registered against them and after trial, six were convicted in the case in January last year. They were sentenced to three months' imprisonment.