NEW DELHI, Nov 28:
The Delhi police today opposed in a court here the bail plea of BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, arrested along with his wife Jagriti Singh in connection with the murder of their maid, saying he had incited his spouse to carry out the “illegal activities” of beating the servants.
The police submitted that although Dhananjay had filed a petition seeking divorce from his wife, he was in constant touch with her and he did not inform it in advance about the alleged torture being meted out to the maid servants by Jagriti.
“They (Dhananjay and Jagriti) were directly in constant touch through calls and SMSes. Why they have filed a divorce petition? It is very questionable.
“Dhananjay incited his wife to carry out the illegal activities of beating the maids,” Additional Public Prosecutor Mukul Kumar told Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma.
The court concluded the hearing of arguments on the bail plea and reserved its order for tomorrow.
Dhananjay had moved the plea after he failed to get the relief from a magisterial court which had dismissed his bail petition, saying that allegations against him were “very serious” and he does not deserve any leniency due his previous conduct.
Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha had dismissed his bail plea on November 20, observing that accused in the case were “very powerful persons” while the victims were poor and vulnerable.
It had also directed the police to provide protection to principal witnesses till the time their statements were recorded in the trial.
Dhananjay and Jagriti were arrested on November 5 in connection with the death of their 35-year-old maid Rakhi Bhadra, a resident of West Bengal.
Dhananjay has moved the sessions court seeking bail, saying that the magistrate had dismissed his petition without considering the facts and circumstances of the case in an arbitrary manner and without application of judicial mind.
Dhananjay has also claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case due to “political pressure”.
During the arguments on the bail plea today, senior advocate Hariharan, appearing for Dhananjay, said the MP had not incited Jagriti to beat the servants and from the evening of October 31 till November 4, when the incident took place, his client was not even in Delhi.
“Where is the incitement that he (MP) was telling his wife to beat the servants? He was not present in Delhi from October 31 till the evening of November 4 as he was in his Parliamentary constituency in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
The defence counsel also argued that after Dhananjay returned to Delhi on the evening of November 4, he immediately informed the police about the incident.
Regarding the allegation that Dhananjay had tampered with video recordings of CCTVs cameras installed in the house at 175, South Avenue here, Hariharan said the MP was not in Delhi during that period and it was not the case of the prosecution that his client had beaten up the deceased.
The police, however, countered the submissions of the defence counsel saying hard disks of video recordings of the CCTV cameras, installed at 175, South Avenue, were “formatted” on the instructions of Dhananjay.
“The formatting was not done in a regular manner. It (formatting) was done on the instructions of Dhananjay,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor argued that Dhananjay should have informed police about Jagriti’s conduct of beating the maids earlier.
“He (Dhananjay) cannot say that he was not aware about it. He should have informed the police earlier about it and should have been a protector,” he said.
Opposing his bail plea, the prosecutor also said that Dhananjay is an “influential person” and as per the forensic reports, the video footages were formatted.
Dhananjay, who already faces charges of murder and offences under the UP Gangsters Act, was arrested for allegedly destroying evidence, not informing the police about the maid’s death immediately and employing a juvenile as domestic help.
Jagriti has been arrested under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 344 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal code and the Juvenile Justice Act.
The police had said the CCTV cameras were installed in the MP’s house to keep a tab on servants’ movements and Jagriti controlled cameras through her mobile phone and TV set.
Both are presently in jail under judicial custody.
Dhananjay was also recently arrested by Delhi Police in a rape case in which he was accused of repeatedly raping and criminally intimidating a 42-year-old woman, a railway employee, between 2005-2009.
The police has also booked him for unnatural offence in the case and he is under judicial custody in the case. (PTI)
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