NSE phone tapping case: Delhi HC issues notice to ED on ex-Mumbai top cop Sanjay Pandey bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday has issued a notice to Enforcement Directorate (ED) on former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey’s plea for bail in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) phone tapping and snooping case.

The Court has also issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on other petitions moved by Sanjay Pandey seeking quashing of FIRs registered against him under various sections of IPC, IT Act and Telegraph Act etc. Justice Jasmeet Singh from the Bench fixed the matter for September 16, 2022, after hearing the submission made by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for petitioner Sanjay Pandey, ANI reported.

Sanjay Pandey was arrested by the ED under money laundering charges in the case and is presently in judicial custody. Transaction of funds worth about Rs 12 crore allegedly to Pandey and his company are under the scanner of the agency.

The retired top cop is facing two ED and CBI FIRs -- the alleged phone tapping case and violation of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines in conducting NSE's system audit. 

While the ED case (in the alleged phone tapping instance) is based on the CBI FIR, it was the ED that first detected the alleged snooping of phone lines at the bourse while probing the co-location instance and it informed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which asked the CBI to study ED findings and probe further. As the ED cannot file a criminal complaint under the PMLA on its own, the CBI case became a scheduled offence enabling it to file a money laundering case.