The Delhi High Court on December 1 asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to a bail plea of AAP minister Satyendar Jain, arrested in connection with a money-laundering case.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma granted two weeks’ time to the investigating agency to file its status report.
Mr. Jain has challenged a trial court’s November 17 Order rejecting his bail plea on grounds that he was prima facie involved in concealing the proceeds of crime.
“He is already in jail for more than four months now. He is already on bail in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case – no allegation that he misused the bail granted in the CBI case. Hence, the applicant is entitled to regular bail pending trial,” the plea has argued.
Senior advocate N. Hariharan, representing Mr. Jain, said there are no “proceeds of crime” in the case and it is based only on “notional basis”.
“There are no proceeds of crime in the case. No proceeds of crime were generated. As far as the predicate offence is concerned, no predicate offence was committed. It is all based on a notional basis,” Mr. Hariharan said.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader was arrested by the ED on May 30 this year under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on the CBI’s disproportionate assets FIR registered against him in 2017.
While seeking bail, Mr. Jain argued that he is neither in a position to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence nor he is a flight risk. He further argued that as the charge sheet has already been filed, there is no requirement to continue his incarceration in the present case. The high court will hear the case on December 20.
( With inputs from PTI)
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