The Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of jailed former minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The former minister is accused of money laundering through four companies allegedly linked to him.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma’s bench, while giving its verdict on the matter, said that Jain is influential and can tamper with the evidence.
The court also said that Satyendar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain do not fulfill the double conditions of bail.
Jain was arrested by the probe agency on May 30 last year. The High Court had on March 21 reserved orders on the bail plea after hearing the arguments of the ED and the AAP leader’s counsel.
Satyendar Jain had earlier said that no case was made out against him and he had fully cooperated with the investigation and there was no need to continue his imprisonment after the charge sheet was filed.
The AAP leader has challenged the trial court’s order dated November 17, 2022, rejecting his bail plea on the ground that he was prima facie involved in concealing the proceeds of crime.
Besides him, the trial court had also denied bail to two co-accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain, saying they “knowingly” assisted Jain in concealing the proceedings of the crime and were “prima facie guilty” of money laundering. ” Were.
The High Court, which had reserved its order on the bail pleas of Vaibhav and Ankush as well, will pass orders on their pleas as well.
The bail plea of the three accused was opposed by the ED.
The ED’s counsel had argued that the AAP leader’s stand that there was no proceeding of offence, could be “debunked” by the material on record which also showed that he was in the “thick of things”.
In its reply filed in the court, the agency has said that the bail plea of Satyendar Jain, who was the sitting minister at the time of the alleged crime, should be rejected as his release would hamper further investigation and also has CCTV footage from Tihar. Jail, where he is in judicial custody, to show that he is an “influential person” who can influence witnesses and sabotage the proceedings.
The ED had arrested Jain in a money laundering case on the basis of a CBI FIR registered against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was granted regular bail by the trial court on September 6, 2019, in the case registered by the CBI.
“Money laundering is very clear. Their case is that Satyendar Jain has nothing to do with it. I have to establish that Satyendar Jain was involved in these things.”