Delhi HC issues notice on Satyendra Jain’s bail plea, asks for ED reply

The Delhi high court on Tuesday issued notice on the bail plea of former Delhi minister Satyender Jain in the money laundering case.

A bench of justice Swarna Kanta Sharma sought Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) response with the next date of hearing scheduled for July 9.

Jain was arrested in May 2022 for allegedly misusing his position as minister from February 2015 to May 2017 to acquire disproportionate assets worth ₹1.47 crore.

The ED subsequently began a probe into the money laundering charges through three companies allegedly linked to him.

The ED, which attached alleged proceeds of crime worth ₹4.60 crore in the case, claimed that Jain was controlling the three companies through the directorship of his wife, Poonam Jain.

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The former minister had approached the Delhi high court, 12 days after the city court rejected his plea seeking default bail on May 15.

In the said order, the city court noted that the predecessor judge had taken cognisance of the chargesheet which was filed by the ED within 60 days of Jain’s arrest and had proceeded against the accused only after being satisfied about the commission of the offense.

Special judge Rakesh Syal also shot down Jain’s contention that ED’s investigation pursuant to filing the chargesheet would be deemed incomplete if more probe was pending.

The judge said that accepting these submissions would render the provisions relating to further investigation and filing of subsequent complaints redundant.

In his petition before the high court, Jain has asserted that the federal agency has failed to complete investigation in all respects within the statutory period since his arrest and has thus deprived him of his statutory right to bail by filing an incomplete chargesheet.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had dismissed Jain’s bail plea and had asked him to surrender in connection with a money laundering case by rejecting his request for extension on ill health.