On Saturday, October 1, the Delhi High Court rejected a petition filed by Delhi minister Satyendar Jain contesting a lower court order to shift his bail application in a money laundering case from the judge hearing the case to another judge.
#Breaking Delhi High Court dismisses Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain’s plea challenging transfer of his alleged money laundering case to another judge. #DelhiHighCourt #SatyendarJain @AamAadmiParty @dir_ed pic.twitter.com/UaAAWPiID5
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) October 1, 2022
The verdict was delivered on 1st October by Justice Yogesh Khanna, who noted that the issue is not one of the integrity or righteousness of the judge from whom the case was being asked to be transferred, but of apprehension on the part of the Enforcement Directorate, the applicant. According to Justice Khanna, the evidence demonstrated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not only had an apprehension of prejudice with the initial judge, but also acted on it by going to the High Court, and hence the apprehension cannot be deemed to be flimsy or unreasonable.
The recent petition by Satyendar Jain was brought in response to an order issued by Rouse Avenue Court’s Principal District and Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Gupta, who directed that the matter be handled by Special Judge Vikas Dhull. Previously, Special Judge Geetanjali Goel was considering Jain’s bail application.
The case was nearing its conclusion when the ED requested a transfer, claiming prejudice on the side of the judge. The Principal District and Sessions Judge granted the transfer request after receiving instructions from the Supreme Court. Jain had petitioned the Supreme Court after the Rouse Avenue Court’s Principal District and Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Gupta halted the bail hearing proceedings in his case. The Supreme Court stated that it would be unable to consider the challenge to the aforementioned application. The Court had, however, asked the Principal District and Sessions Judge to hear and decide the transfer application on September 22.
Satyendra Jain’s bail plea relates to his arrest in a Money Laundering case. Jain was arrested on May 30 this year under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) accused Satyendar Jain of money laundering in August 2017. The ED launched a criminal investigation against the AAP leader based on the FIR filed by the CBI, stating that Jain could not explain the source of money received by four firms in which he was a stakeholder. The businesses reportedly laundered Rs 16.39 crores in cash between 2010 and 2014.
