Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court granted anticipatory bail to Sandeep Singh, personal secretary to Congress general secretary Priyanka Vadra, considering that Singh was just a messenger for a letter from the party offering 1,000 buses to transport stranded workers during the pandemic and ensuing lockdown.
The court held that it is undisputed that Singh had written a letter to the state government’s Additional Chief Secretary Avnish Awasthi, (but only) at the behest of (her employer) Priyanka Vadra.
The advance bail is till the filing of the police report.
The case is about the 1,000 buses on offer for plying migrant labourers from Ghaziabad-Noida borders. As it transpired, that papers of 150 of those vehicles were not in order. It was also found that of those 150, some were actually autos, three wheelers, ambulances, trucks etc. some of those vehicles had fitness certificates and other documents which were not valid.
The single bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh has said in its order that Congress General Secretary Priyanka Vadra has not been named in the FIR. Also, the sections imposed on Sandeep Singh are considered to be of mild nature. The bench, therefore, set the bail at Rs 1 lakh plus two sureties of the same amount. The bench also clarified that Singh’s anticipatory bail will remain in effect till the inquiry ends.
Senior advocates Vivek Tankha and Nadeem Murtaza debated on behalf of Sandeep Singh. They argued that Sandeep is being implicated only for political reasons. He sent the letter only at the behest of the Congress General Secretary.
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The Uttar Pradesh government had filed an FIR against Sandeep and Congress state president Ajay Lallu in the bus dispute. Lallu was arrested in this case and sent to jail. He was later granted bail. At the same time, Sandeep Singh requested the court for anticipatory bail to avoid arrest.
– India Legal Bureau