Amruta Fadnavis Threat Case: Court Sends Designer Aniksha Jaisinghani To 14-Day Judicial Custody

A Mumbai court sent designer Aniksha Jaisinghani to 14-day judicial custody in connection with a threat and bribery case filed by Amruta Fadnavis.

Aniksha Jaisinghani being taken by police.

Source : PTI

Amruta Fadnavis Extortion Case: A Mumbai court on Friday sent designer Aniksha Jaisinghani to 14-day judicial custody in connection with a threat and bribery case filed by Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis’ wife, Amruta Fadnavis, reported PTI. The court turned down a request for an extension of police remand. 

Mumbai Police Sought Extension Of Remand 

The police produced Aniksha before sessions court judge D D Almale at the end of her previous remand. PTI reported that the police, represented by special public prosecutor Ajay Misar, sought Aniksha’s custody for three more days to confront her with a witness. 

Police said that during the previous remands, the investigating officer had made progress, but some part of the investigation pertaining to recovery of bag and data from the Apple phone was yet to be analysed. 

The statement of a witness, who was brought from Kolhapur, has been recorded, but custody of the accused is required for interrogation in the presence of the said lady who shot the video, Misar said. 

Aniksha’s Lawyer Opposed Police Remand 

Opposing police remand, Aniksha's lawyer Manan Sanghai said that no sufficient ground was made out for extension of police custody. He claimed that further investigation could be done without the custody of the accused. 

He told the court that the investigating officer got sufficient time to interrogate the accused separately and with co-accused. 

Court’s Order 

After hearing both sides, the court rejected the investigators' plea and sent the accused to judicial custody. The court said that the grounds put forth by the police for remand extension were "not just and proper”. 

“Taking into account the nature of offence, I am of the opinion that further investigation can be possible without the police custody of the accused,” the court added, as quoted by PTI. 

Notably, police have also arrested Aniksha’s father and suspected bookie Anil Jaisinghani and their relative Nirmal Jaisinghani in connection with the case. They are in police custody till March 27. 

As per the report, they have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections for conspiracy and extortion and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

Aniksha Moves Bail Plea 

Following the order, Anishka moved a bail application before the court claiming the FIR against her was totally based on "concocted and fictitious facts" to falsely frame her. 

According to PTI, she maintained through her advocate Manan Sanghai that the arrest and consequent remand of the applicant to the custody of the police is in total violation of the tenets of the Constitution of India and provisions of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). 

It further claimed that the sessions court orders remanding her to police custody (twice) were passed in a mechanical manner without giving any thought and were in violation of the principles of natural justice. 

All About The Case 

As per the FIR, Aniksha was in touch with Amruta Fadnavis for the past 16 months and also visited her residence.  

In her statement to the police, Amruta said she first met Aniksha in November 2021. Aniksha claimed she was a designer of clothes, jewellery and footwear and requested her to wear them at public events saying it would help her promote the products. 

The police said that the accused designer Aniksha had earlier offered Rs 1 crore bribe to settle the betting case against her father Anil Jaisinghani. They added that Aniksha told Amrita Fadnavis that her father used to give information about bookies to the police and he used to get money.  

Amruta Fadnavis suspected that a conspiracy was being hatched against her, after which she blocked Aniksha's number.  

However, Amruta said that she received 22 videos, 3 voice notes, screenshots and 40 such messages from an unknown mobile number 93xxxxxxxx between 11.50 pm on 18th February to 12.05 am on 19th February. When the number was checked, it was found to be of Aniksha’s father, Anil Jaisinghani.  

The Mumbai Police told earlier told the court that after sending a total of 40 messages including videos, voice notes, and screenshots, a demand of ten crores rupees was made for deleting them. 

Aniksha was arrested by Mumbai police on March 16 based on a case filed on February 20 on the complaint of Amruta Fadnavis at Malabar Hill police station.