New Delhi, Aug 3 The Delhi High Court on Monday denied bail to former AAP MLA Naresh Balyan accused of being a facilitator in an organised crime syndicate run by gangster Kapil Sangwan, saying the conversation between him and the gangster demonstrates an "active criminal nexus" between the two.
The ex-lawmaker was arrested in the case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on December 4, 2024, the same day a trial court granted him bail in an extortion case.
"We are dismissing it," Justice Manoj Jain said while pronouncing the verdict on Balyan's bail plea.
Seeking bail, Balyan had contended that there was "no shred of evidence" against him and the case against him was "completely frivolous".
In the judgement, Justice Jain rejected the AAP leader's contention that he was himself a victim, had lodged complaints against the gangster and was now being projected as close associate of Sangwan due to political vendetta.
The court said Balyan's complaints against Sangwan cannot absolve him at this stage, keeping in mind the other "incriminating material", and that his plea of political vendetta was "merely in the air and completely unsubstantiated".
It concluded that a "broad assessment" of the material collected by police showed a "discernible nexus" between Balyan and other syndicate members.
"Merely because the appellant (Balyan) had lodged complaints against Kapil Sangwan in past, the material collected by the Investigating Agency cannot be negated and annulled, particularly when the conversation between him and Kapil Sangwan demonstrates an active criminal nexus between the two.
"Whether these complaints are genuine or not; or whether these are clever ploy to create a false illusion; or whether the threats existed but of late, there is tacit association between them would become clearer only during the trial," said the court in the judgement.
"Investigation also reveals that appellant has been continuously facilitating members of the crime syndicate headed by Kapil Sangwan in commission of organized crime; and the appellant, in particular, facilitated his co-accused Rohit @ Anna, member of same syndicate in the acts of extortion and murder," it added.
The court noted that there were as many as 17 FIRs lodged against the syndicate, and it was not a case of lack of any "continuous unlawful activity" or double jeopardy.
With respect to Balyan's plea for release due to violation of his fundamental right to a speedy trial, the court held that in such sensitive and serious matters where stringent provisions of MCOCA are invoked, mere long incarceration cannot be the governing and decisive factor for granting bail.
"The investigation in such type of matters is a mammoth task. The Syndicate-Head has absconded and there is already a request made by the prosecution to the learned Trial Court to conduct trial in absentia qua such absconding accused. The arguments on charge are being advanced and this Court expects that the learned Trial Court shall make best endeavour to proceed further with the matter, as expeditiously as possible," said the court.
Before the high court, Balyan had challenged a trial court order refusing to grant him bail in the case on May 27, 2025.
The prosecutor has earlier submitted that there are as many as 16 FIRs lodged against the alleged syndicate members in various parts of Delhi, and the syndicate had created havoc in society and amassed huge illegal wealth.
