Excise Policy case: Delhi HC issues notice to ED on Vijay Nair’s default bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate on a default bail petition moved by the Aam Aadmi Party’s former communication head, Vijay Nair, in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Excise Policy case. Earlier, the High Court had denied him regular bail in the matter.
The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Thursday sought response of ED in the matter. Nair is the former Media and Communication In-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the former CEO of the entertainment and event management firm Only Much Louder.
The right to default bail is available to accused persons in cases when the investigating agency fails to complete its investigation within the stipulated time. Recently, a Supreme Court judgment regarding default bail has sparked a debate.
Senior Advocate Rebecca John appeared in the court for Vijay Nair and stated that the supplementary prosecution complaint has been filed by the ED within the prescribed period of 60 days, but the same has been filed without actual completion of investigation qua him and hence, the said supplementary complaint can only be termed as a piecemeal and incomplete complaint or charge sheet, which has been filed by the investigating agency just to defeat the right of applicant to be released on default bail in terms of provisions contained under section 167(2) Criminal Procedure Code.
Nair’s lawyer also argued that the right to get default bail is a statutory right conferred upon an accused in terms of the above provisions and the same cannot be permitted to be defeated or scuttled by the investigating agency in the manner, in which it has been done in the present case.
It was also argued that if the investigating agencies are permitted to file piecemeal or incomplete charge sheets or prosecution complaints to defeat the right to statutory bail accruing to an accused under the above provisions, then the very fabric of criminal jurisprudence will be destroyed as Section 173 Cr.P.C. imposes a duty upon the investigating agencies to file the charge sheets or prosecution complaints against the accused only when investigation in a case is complete in all respects.
The ED while opposed default bail plea raised the maintainability ground and stated that the accused had already raised the ground of piecemeal or incomplete charge sheet earlier too.