Amruta Fadnavis bribe case: 'Bookie' Anil Jaisinghani moves HC seeking quashing of FIR; says his arrest 'illegal'

Suspected bookie Anil Jaisinghani, an accused in the case related to alleged attempt to blackmail and bribe Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, moved the Bombay High Court on Thursday seeking quashing of the FIR against him, and termed his arrest in the case as "illegal".

Jaisinghani claimed that the first information report (FIR) was "ill-conceived", "politically motivated" and not according to the letter of the law.

Aniksha, the daughter of Anil Jaisinghani, was arrested on March 16 for allegedly attempting to offer Rs 1 crore to Amruta Fadnavis for intervening in a criminal case and also threatening her. Anil Jaisinghani and his relative Nirmal Jaisinghani, also an accused in the case, were arrested on March 20 from Gujarat.

"The offence is entirely misconceived, and the petitioners (Anil and co-accused Nirmal Jaisinghani) have been pulled into the matter unnecessarily, the petition filed through advocate Manan Sanghai said. In the petition, Anil Jaisinghani said his arrest was illegal as he was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest as per the provisions of law. The delay in producing the accused before the magistrate and non-compliance of the mandatory provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) by police officials, has caused grave prejudice to the accused, it said.

In the present case, both the petitioners were produced before the magistrate after 36 hours of their arrest which is a violation of the CrPC provisions and their fundamental rights, it added.

The accused pleaded the high court to quash the FIR against them and declare the remand order passed by the sessions court and his arrest as illegal. They also sought interim bail from the high court. The matter will be heard on Monday. After they were nabbed in Gujarat on March 20, Anil and Nirmal Jaisinghani were produced before additional sessions judge D D Almale, who remanded them to police custody March 27.

Based on a complaint filed by the Deputy Chief Minister's wife, police had registered a case against the father-daughter duo. They have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and extortion and also under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

At least 17 cases are pending against Anil Jaisinghani, police had said earlier.