New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Naresh Balyan’s bail plea in a case registered under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
A single-judge Bench of Justice Manoj Jain, who had reserved the verdict last week, declined to grant bail to the former Uttam Nagar legislator.
Balyan has challenged the trial court’s order refusing him bail in the organised crime case registered by the Delhi Police Crime Branch under the MCOCA.
The former AAP MLA was rearrested by the Crime Branch in December 2024 under the MCOCA, minutes after securing relief in an extortion case. Following the grant of bail by the Rouse Avenue Court in the extortion matter, police arrested him within the court premises and took him into custody in connection with the organised crime case.
Balyan was initially arrested on November 30, 2024, after audio clips allegedly featuring him in a conversation with gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu surfaced. The clips purportedly suggested plans to threaten and extort money from builders and other individuals in Delhi.
According to the Delhi Police, Balyan is part of a larger criminal syndicate operating in Delhi and adjoining areas, allegedly involved in organised crimes such as extortion and arms trafficking.
The charge sheet describes the network as a structured and well-coordinated group engaged in illegal activities for financial gain.
Four accused — Vijay alias Kalu, Sahil alias Poli, Balyan, and Jyoti Prakash alias Baba — have been named in a supplementary charge sheet filed by the police.
Earlier, the Delhi Police had opposed Balyan’s bail plea, contending that the investigation was at a crucial stage and his release could hamper the probe. However, Balyan has consistently claimed that the prosecution is politically motivated and that the allegations were fabricated as part of a larger conspiracy against him.
Meanwhile, in a parallel extortion case arising out of an FIR registered at Mohan Garden police station, a Delhi court on July 31 discharged Balyan of offences under Sections 387, 120B and 201 of the IPC, holding that the prosecution had failed to cross the “foundational threshold test” required for framing of charges.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal observed that the prosecution could not raise “grave suspicion” against Balyan, saying there was “not a single piece of evidence” to prima facie establish any prior meeting of minds between him and absconding gangster Kapil Sangwan.
The trial court was critical of the police investigation, stating that it suffered from “lost time”, unexplained delays and over-reliance on secondary electronic evidence.
It observed that the original devices containing the alleged audio recordings were never seized, no effort was made to trace the source of the recordings uploaded on Facebook, and the investigation proceeded on assumptions rather than objective evidence.
“There is no iota of evidence that both accused persons ever conversed before receipt of threatening messages/audio recordings by the complainant,” the court said, adding that the prosecution had failed to establish the foundational facts necessary to proceed against Balyan for criminal conspiracy or disappearance of evidence.
Holding that “the prosecution cannot cast grave suspicion upon the accused no.2 sufficient to frame charges”, the Rouse Avenue Court discharged Balyan of all offences for which the charge sheet had been filed against him in the extortion case.
–IANS
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