Ex-Mumbai cop’s bail plea: Probe agency’s stand sought

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai,
Aug
16:
The
Delhi
High
Court
on
Tuesday
sought
the
stand
of
the
Enforcement
Directorate
(ED)
on
a
bail
plea
by
ex-Mumbai
Police
Commissioner
Sanjay
Pandey
in
connection
with
a
money
laundering
case
related
to
alleged
illegal
phone
tapping
and
snooping
of
National
Stock
Exchange
(NSE)
employees.

Justice
Jasmeet
Singh
issued
notice
to
ED
on
the
bail
plea
and
asked
it
to
file
its
status
report,
according
to
news
agency
PTI.

The
judge
also
issued
notice
and
sought
response
from
the
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation
(CBI)
on
separate
petitions
filed
by
Pandey
and
his
company
iSec
Services
Private
Limited
seeking
quashing
of
the
FIR
lodged
by
the
agency
in
relation
to
the
alleged
phone
tapping
for
alleged
commission
of
offences
under
the
Indian
Penal
Code,
Indian
Telegraph
Act
and
Prevention
of
Corruption
Act.

NSE
phone
tapping
case:
ED
arrests
ex-Mumbai
police
chief
Sanjay
Pandey

According
to
the
CBI,
iSec
in
conspiracy
with
other
accused
persons
illegally
intercepted
MTNL
lines
at
the
NSE
between
2009
and
2017
and
recorded
calls
by
various
NSE
officials.
It
was
alleged
that
the
telephone
monitoring
was
carried
out
by
iSec
without
taking
permission
of
the
competent
authority
as
required
under
the
provisions
of
the
Indian
Telegraph
Act
and
also
without
the
knowledge
or
consent
of
NSE
employees.

Sanjay
Pandey,
who
was
arrested
by
the
Enforcement
Directorate
on
July
19,
is
currently
in
judicial
custody.

Senior
advocate
Mukul
Rohatgi,
appearing
for
Pandey
who
challenged
a
trial
court’s
August
4
order
rejecting
bail,
urged
the
court
to
list
the
bail
plea
after
a
short
date,
and
said
“He
is
a
senior
citizen,
a
police
commissioner.
He
is
not
going
to
run
away.”
It
was
further
contended
that
the
CBI
FIR
ought
to
be
quashed
on
grounds
that
no
offence,
as
alleged
by
the
agency,
is
made
out
against
the
former
Mumbai
top
cop.

In
his
petition
seeking
quashing
of
the
FIR
in
the
CBI
case,
Pandey
contended
that
the
FIR
has
been
registered
only
to
fulfil
a
“political
vendetta”
against
him.

The
plea
said
the
FIR
was
“wholly
baseless”
and
that
“no
offence
was
made
out”.

While
rejecting
Pandey’s
bail
earlier
this
month,
the
trial
court
had
said
the
material
available
prima
face
showed
he
was
actively
involved
in
the
execution
of
recording
and
monitoring
of
calls
at
the
NSE,
and
was
directly
communicating
with
the
bourse
staff
as
well
as
those
of
the
iSec
Services,
which
was
responsible
for
the
cyber
security
audit
of
the
NSE.

The
trial
court
had
noted
that
the
material
collected
by
the
investigating
officer
“prima
face”
showed
the
retired
IPS
officer
was
in
de
facto
control
of
the
affairs
of
iSec
even
after
2006,
when
he
resigned
as
a
director,
and
kept
attending
the
meetings
with
NSE
officials.

It
had
said
since
the
applicant
was
the
chief
of
Mumbai
Police
till
June
30,
2022,
the
apprehension
of
the
investigating
agency
that
he
may
influence
the
witnesses
or
tamper
with
the
evidence
was
not
unfounded.

The
ED
had
on
July
14,
arrested
Chitra
Ramkrishna,
the
former
MD
and
CEO
of
the
NSE
in
the
phone
tapping
case.

Ramkrishna
was
then
already
in
jail
in
the
CBI
case
relating
to
the
co-location
scam
at
the
NSE
involving
alleged
manipulation
of
the
bourse.

The
matter
would
be
heard
next
in
September.