AAP's Satyendar Jain moves SC seeking bail in PMLA case
Jailed former Delhi cabinet minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Satyendar Jain, moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the Delhi High Court order which rejected his bail plea in a money laundering case against him. Besides Jain's petition, the Delhi HC last month also dismissed the bail pleas of Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain, both co-accused in the case.
Why does this story matter?
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Jain in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), accusing him of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. The ED registered the case based on a 2017 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. However, the AAP has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing central investigative agencies to harass political rivals.
No case made against me yet: Jain in bail plea
The Delhi HC rejected Jain's plea in April after reserving its order in March following the arguments of the ED and Jain's counsel. Challenging a trial court's November order rejecting his bail plea, Jain submitted before the high court in March that he had cooperated with the investigation and the ED hadn't been able to make a case against him after months of investigation.
Properties worth Rs. 4.8 crore attached allegedly linked to Jain
The CBI booked Jain under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2017. The ED then filed a case against him and provisionally attached immovable properties belonging to the aforementioned four companies in April 2022. The properties, allegedly linked to Jain and his kin, were valued at Rs. 4.81 crore. Other co-accused in the case are Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, and Sunil Kumar Jain.
Jain claimed to have lost memory when faced with probe
To recall, in June 2022, when the ED confronted him with documents related to alleged hawala transactions, he claimed to have lost his memory due to COVID-19. Notably, Jain approached the SC after requesting two inmates be shifted to his Tihar Jail cell, citing depression and loneliness. The jail superintendent was served a show-cause notice after transferring the inmates without the jail administration's permission.
