# Supreme Court seeks Delhi reply on AAP MLA Naresh Balyan bail plea in MCOCA case 2026-08-24T10:41:55+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Delhi government's response to a bail plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Naresh Balyan in a case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice on the plea, which challenges the Delhi High Court's August 3 order denying him bail. Balyan was arrested on December 4, 2024, by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police. The prosecution alleges Balyan acted as a "facilitator" for an organised crime syndicate run by absconding gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu. It claims he identified extortion targets, executed sham property agreements, and orchestrated forced property sales. The High Court, while denying bail, cited intercepted mobile conversations showing a "discernible nexus" between Balyan and the syndicate, and noted that prolonged incarceration alone cannot justify bail under MCOCA. Balyan has denied the allegations, calling the invocation of MCOCA an abuse of law and political vendetta. Earlier, a Delhi court closed an extortion case against him on July 31 for lack of evidence. The Supreme Court will now await the Delhi government's response before proceeding with the bail plea. ## Indian Opinion Analysis MCOCA is a stringent law that presumes an accused is guilty unless proven innocent and makes bail extremely hard to obtain. The law was designed to tackle organised crime and requires the prosecution to show the accused is a member of a crime syndicate. Balyan's case will now be tested on this legal threshold. The next hearing before the Supreme Court could set a precedent for how political affiliations interact with MCOCA charges, especially given the earlier High Court criticism of the police probe. The key date to watch is the next listing for arguments, when the Delhi government must file its response. ## Coverage - barandbench.com Straightforward report of court proceedings and facts, with attribution only where needed. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Delhi government, Kapil Sangwan, MCOCA, Naresh Balyan, Supreme Court Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-seeks-delhi-reply-on-aap-mla-naresh-balyan-bail-plea-in-mcoca-case/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/supreme-court-seeks-delhi-reply-on-aap-mla-naresh-balyan-bail-plea-in-mcoca-case/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/