Rajya Sabha Chairman Blocks AAP Leader's Oath, Cites Privileges Case

New Delhi:

Jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh will not take oath for his second term in Rajya Sabha today. Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar refused to allow Mr Singh to take oath, saying that the House’s privileges committee is looking into the matter, news agency ANI reported.

The senior AAP leader was suspended from Rajya Sabha in July last year for violating directives of the Chair. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in October.

A Delhi court on Saturday allowed him to take oath as Rajya Sabha MP today. He is currently in judicial custody.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating the money trail in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, has told the court that Mr Singh was part of the conspiracy to collect kickbacks from liquor groups.

Last month, Mr Singh was elected unopposed for his second term in the Upper House of Parliament. He had first become a Rajya Sabha MP in 2018.

Besides Mr Singh, AAP’s Swati Maliwal and Narain Dass Gupta were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha. The two MPs took oath in the House on January 31.