Punjab AAP MLA withdraws plea in SC challenging arrest in money laundering case

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra on July 30 withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea challenging his arrest and remand by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering probe linked to a bank fraud case.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma allowed the request by Mr. Majra’s counsel to withdraw the plea with liberty to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court for bail.

The top court had earlier refused to grant interim bail to the MLA from Amargarh constituency to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had also dismissed a plea by the legislator challenging his arrest, observing that there was no illegality.

In May 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids on premises linked to Mr. Majra in connection with an alleged ₹40 crore bank fraud. In September 2022, the ED conducted raids on several premises linked to him as part of a money laundering probe in connection with the alleged bank loan fraud.

The ED team had seized ₹32 lakh in cash, some mobile phones and hard drives.