The All India Bharatiya Congress president was first produced in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) K S Mohi along with his associate Vinod Kumar Luthra in connection with a cheating case filed by MP M K Subba. Sharma was remanded to police custody, despite the fact that a partially-heard police remand application was pending in the court of MM Jai Prakash Narain.

On October 28, Sharma was arrested in MM Narain's court itself in connection with a case filed by Sanjay Sabharwal at the Hauz Khas police station on October 22. The MM had remanded him to judicial custody till today, and the remand application was heard only partly. The Crime Branch, however, did not bother to inform MM Mohi about this. In fact, ACP (Crime Branch) Jaipal Singh moved an application for Sharma's police remandin MM Mohi's court.

MM Narain said in his order: ``This shows the ignorance of law on part of police officers... and in a way they became instrumental in preventing that court from knowing all the relevant circumstances.'' The magistrate has issued directions that a copy of the order be sent to Commissioner of Police V N Singh ``to take appropriate measures so that this legal anarchy may not happen again''.

MM Narain lashed out at the ACP for creating so much confusion: ``Don't you know the procedure?'' The Crime Branch first produced Sharma and Luthra in MM Mohi's court in connection with a case (FIR no. 7/97) registered by Subba alleging that Sharma had grabbed his Jai Mata Di farmhouse in Chattarpur, south Delhi, on the basis of forged documents prepared with the connivance of Luthra. Both were arrested today in this case.

Meanwhile, V Balasubramanian, group president of Reliance Industries Limited, was today again questioned by delhi police in connection with the cases involving Romesh Sharma,suspected to be a front man of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Amod Kanth, joint commissioner of police told reporters here that it would not be in the interest of the investigations to make public more details, adding ``I have not disclosed even one-hundredth of what we know.''

Balasubramanian denied yesterday he had any links with Dubai-based Dawood Ibrahim. Reliance group also denied any connections, contacts or dealings, directly or indirectly, with Sharma or any of his associates.