Delhi Court stays trial court proceedings against Satyendar Jain on ED's plea

A court in New Delhi on Monday stayed the trial court proceedings and bail hearings of arrested Delhi minister Satyendar Jain and others in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Hearing the September 15 application moved by the ED for the transfer of the bail plea of Jain from the present court, the District Judge of Rouse Avenue Court also issued notice in the matter.

Earlier, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, submitted that he has instructions to move an application for transfer of the bail application (of Jain) and he has requested a short adjournment for the same.

Jain, whose bail has been denied in various hearings since his arrest in the PMLA case on May 30, is presently lodged in Tihar jail.

As per the earlier submissions of the ED, Jain was in de facto control of shell companies used for alleged money laundering, and co-accused Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain were just dummies.

On the other hand, Jain's counsel argued that the alleged role attributed to him doesn't fall in the ambit of Section 45 of the PMLA.

Earlier, the CBI had accused Jain, his wife, and others of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. On March 31, the ED provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by the minister.

On June 6, the ED conducted raids at multiple locations belonging to Jain, his wife and his accomplices, who had either directly or indirectly assisted him or participated in the processes of money laundering. A recovery of Rs 2.85 crore in cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg was made during the raid.

The ED had arrested Jain in connection with a case based on a CBI FIR lodged against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Jain was accused of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him.

According to a report in the Indian Express, special Judge Goel had, in the past few hearings in the bail proceedings, pulled up the agency over its probe in the case. On September 8, she had asked the ED why it went beyond the CBI case by investigating alleged proceeds of crime not mentioned in the charge sheet. She had also sought an explanation on what the criminality was in the case, remarking at one point that the companies said to be cheated by the AAP leader were also named as accused.