Jailed AAP leader and Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the bail plea by Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain, arrested for alleged money laundering.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma granted the investigating agency two weeks to file its status report and the court will hear the case on December 20.
Mr. Jain has challenged a trial court’s November 17 order rejecting his bail plea on grounds that he was prima facie involved in concealing the proceeds of crime.
On May 30, the ED arrested Mr. Jain under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, based on a disproportionate assets FIR filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2017.
In his plea seeking bail, Mr Jain argued that he is neither in a position to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence nor he is a flight risk. It added that as the chargesheet has already been filed, there is no requirement to continue his incarceration in the present case.
“He is already in jail for more than four months now. He is already on bail in the CBI case — no allegation that he misused the bail granted in the CBI case. Hence, the applicant is entitled to regular bail pending trial,” the plea noted.
Senior advocate N. Hariharan, representing Mr Jain, said, “There are no proceeds of crime in the case. No proceeds of crime were generated. As far as the predicate offence is concerned, no predicate offence was committed. It is all based on a notional basis.”
