New Delhi [India], May 28 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of former AAP MLA Naresh Balyan, who is an accused in the MCOCA case linked with an organised crime syndicate allegedly run by UK-based gangster Kapil Sangwan.

'The criminal nexus between a politician and a gangster is perhaps the most perilous threat confronting a nation and its citizens, and must be addressed with severity,' the court said while rejecting the bail plea.

'Having dismissed the accused's claim of any jurisdictional error in the approval grant and having reviewed the material against the accused including the statements of witnesses, the retracted confessional statements of co-accused, and the audio recording of the accused with the ringleader Kapil Sangwan based in the UK, this Court finds no reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not involved, as mandated under section 21(4) of MCOCA,' special Judge Dig Vinay Singh said in the order passed on May 27.

Balyan had sought bail on the grounds that approval of the case under MCOCA against him was invalid. However, the court rejected the contention.

The court said that the proposal for approval and the approval granted by the competent authority reflect sufficient material considered by the competent authority, as indicated by the proposal for approval itself, which details 15 FIRs registered up to July 2023, including some registered after FIR no 265/23.

Therefore, the court said that the assertion of defective or improper approval appears to be inaccurate.

The court further said that the applicant's contentions regarding the approval or the sanction being defective or lacking proper consideration, as well as the assertion regarding the registration of this FIR without any specific activity, and other grounds, the application must be dismissed as the twin conditions under Section 21(4) of MCOCA apply to the applicant.

While rejecting the plea, the court clarified that an accused under MCOCA cannot be granted bail until the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not guilty of such an offence and that the accused is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. There is ample material against the applicant. Thus, the necessary satisfaction under Section 21(4)(b) is absent.

The court also discussed a presumption under MCOCA, which said that if it is established that an accused has provided financial assistance to an accused of, or reasonably suspected of, an offence of organised crime, the Special Court shall presume, unless proven otherwise, that such a person has committed the offence under Section 3(2).

This presumption is also invoked prima facie in the current case against the applicant, as he is accused of providing financial assistance to a gang member after the commission of the crime to help him evade arrest, the special judge held.

Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Akhand Pratap Singh for Delhi Police opposed the bail plea.

It was claimed that against Kapil Sangwan's crime syndicate, from 2021 to 2024, as many as 21 FIRs have been registered for heinous offences, including murder and extortion, with ongoing investigations in some cases, final reports filed in many cases, and various trials underway in different courts.

The applicant (Balyan) was found to have secret applications installed on mobile devices used for communications with other syndicate members, which he acquired under the names of associates. The CFSL has identified those secret applications from seized mobile devices, SSP argued.

Advocate MS Khan, along with Advocates Rohit Dalal and Rahul Sahani, appeared for Balyan.

It was argued that under Section 2(d) of MCOCA, evidence of a new act demonstrating the continuity of unlawful activity is essential before claiming that an organised crime has occurred. Merely relying on past FIRs/charge-sheets without any new offence is insufficient to invoke MCOCA, the counsel for the accused argued. (ANI)