Satyendar Jain, 2 others denied bail in money laundering case

Nov 17, 2022: A Delhi court on Thursday denied bail to AAP minister Satyendar Jain in relation to the money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Special judge Vikas Dhull also rejected bail to co-accused Vaibhav and Ankush Jain.

Earlier on Wednesday, Jain’s plea was deferred by Justice Dhull as the orders for the other two accused were yet to be finalised.

Jain was arrested on May 30 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He is currently lodged in the Tihar Jail.

In September, when the bail hearing of all the accused was at the final stage, the ED had filed an application seeking transfer of the case from the court of special judge Geetanjali Goel to a new judge on the grounds of apprehension of bias.

ED had stated that the minister had faked his illness by getting a report from the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. They alleged that despite knowing that there is something fishy, the trial court judge did not take any steps to verify the medical certificate.

Even though Jain and other accused challenged the transfer of the case to a new judge, the Delhi high court had rejected the plea on October 1 opining that the ED’s apprehension of bias by a trial court judge is reasonable.

The AAP minister challenged the high court’s order in the Supreme Court, but later withdrew his petition. Jain commenced the bail proceedings saying that no purpose would be served by keeping him in custody any longer since the agency had already filed the prosecution complaint in the case.

The ED, meanwhile, had argued saying that the accused was getting special services in the jail, wherein he was using his position as a minister.

As per the ED, Jain had transferred money to Kolkata through the hawala channel and received it back from dummy companies in the form of accommodation entries, even though he could not present the source of the money received.

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