Delhi HC Dismisses Bail Plea Of Satyendar Jain, 2 Others In Money Laundering Case

Satyendar Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case on May 30 last year.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed bail plea of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain and two others in the money laundering case, reported ANI. The court also dismissed the bail pleas of co-accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain in the case.

Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the case on May 30 last year and is accused of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him.

Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma remarked that Satyendar Jain is an influential person who can influence the investigation at present. Therefore, bail cannot be granted to Jain at this stage of the case.

The High Court had reserved its order on the bail plea on March 21 after hearing arguments of the counsel for the ED and the AAP leader.

Earlier, Jain had submitted that no case was made out against him and he has fully cooperated in the investigation and there was no requirement to continue his incarceration after the filing of the charge sheet. 

The former Aam Aadmi Party minister had moved high court after a trial court had dismissed his bail plea in an order dated November 17, 2022 on the ground that he was prima facie involved in concealing the proceeds of crime, PTI reported. 

The trial court had also denied bail to two the co-accused saying that they "knowingly" assisted the former Delhi health minister in concealing the proceeds of crime and were "prima facie guilty" of money laundering.

The high court had reserved its order on the bail pleas of Vaibhav and Ankush also.  

The central agency's counsel had argued that the stand by Satyendar Jain saying there are no proceeds of crime can be "demolished" by the material on record which also shows that he was "in the thick of things", as per PTI's report.

The enforcement agency had arrested Jain in the money laundering case based on an FIR by the Central Buearu of Investigation against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was granted regular bail by a trial court on September 6, 2019, in the case lodged by the CBI.