Delhi High Court Rejects Bail Plea in MCOCA Case Against Naresh Balyan
In a significant legal development, the Delhi High Court on Monday turned down the bail application of Naresh Balyan, a former legislator from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The case involves charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The decision was rendered by Justice Manoj Jain.
Balyan was detained by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police on December 4, 2024. He faces allegations of association with an organized crime group led by the fugitive gangster, Kapil Sangwan, also known as Nandu. The charges are based, in part, on an audio recording purportedly capturing a conversation between Balyan and Sangwan.
Interestingly, a previous legal decision on July 31 saw a Delhi court dismiss an extortion charge against Balyan, which was also premised on this audio evidence. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Courts concluded that the prosecution had failed to furnish any substantive evidence implicating Balyan in the extortion case.
Representing Naresh Balyan in court were Senior Advocate Rebecca M John and a team of legal experts, including advocates Jatan Singh, Vivek Jain, Rohit Kumar, Sadiq Noor, and Pravir Singh. The State’s legal team comprised Special Counsel Amit Prasad and Special Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh, alongside advocates Hritwirk Maurya, Ayodhya Prasad, and Utkarsh Singh.
