Pressing for bail for AAP leader Satyendar Jain, senior advocate N Hariharan on Saturday, June 18 stated before a Delhi court that the Delhi minister has ‘sleep apnea’ and that he should be granted bail on medical grounds. Satyendar Jain was sent to judicial custody on June 13 on completion of his ED custody in connection with a money laundering case filed against him by CBI in August 2017. The court has, however, refused to grant him bail.
Jain’s counsel also told the court that he has cooperated with the agency at every stage and no more custody is required. He submitted that the AAP leader meets the triple test for bail as he is not a flight risk and also the evidence is mostly documentary in nature and cannot be tampered with. Jain’s counsel also told the court that witnesses have never raised the allegation of threat.
The Delhi Court’s Special Judge Geetanjali Goel, however, reserved her order on the bail plea on June 14. “Bail application is dismissed,” the judge said on Saturday, June 18.
Interestingly, prior to this, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had notified the trial court on Tuesday, June 14, that during questioning, Delhi minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain claimed that he lost his memory owing to the effect of Covid.
According to the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju who is appearing on the behalf of ED in court, Satyendar Jain made the assertion that he lost his memory after being faced with papers pertaining to his involvement in trusts that received money from hawala operations.
The AAP minister’s ED detention had already been extended till Monday, June 13. The bail hearing for Jain was set for Tuesday, June 14. The court had heard Satyendar Jain’s bail application on Tuesday, June 14 and reserved its decision until June 18 and today too, the court refused to grant bail to the AAP leader.
AAP leader Satyendar Jain charged with money laundering
On May 30, the ED arrested Satyendar Jain under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. On May 31, the trial court remanded him to the custody of ED. ED raided the residence and other places associated with Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain on June 6 and 7. Following the raid, the agency confiscated Rs. 2.85 crore in cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg in total.
Satyendar Jain was charged with money laundering in August 2017 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Based on the FIR made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED initiated a criminal case against the AAP leader, alleging that Jain could not explain the source of income received by four firms in which he was a stakeholder. From 2010 to 2014, the firms allegedly laundered Rs 16.39 crores in cash.
The Home Ministry authorised the prosecution of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in matters including disproportionate assets and money laundering in November 2019. Under the PMLA, 2002, the Enforcement Directorate temporarily attached immovable assets worth Rs. 4.81 crore owned by Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, and others in April of this year. The move was taken in connection with the case filed against AAP minister Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others for disproportionate assets and money laundering.
