Apex court to hear minister’s plea against trial transfer

The Delhi high court had earlier this month affirmed the decision to move the case to a new trial judge following a request by the ED.

The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a plea by Delhi minister Satyendar Jain against the transfer of a money laundering case against him to a new trial judge.

Apex court to hear minister’s plea against trial transfer

On Monday, Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit agreed to list Jain’s appeal for an urgent hearing on a request made by senior advocate Kapil Sibal on behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.

“List it as the first matter on board tomorrow,” directed the CJI. Justice Lalit also informed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta about listing the case on Tuesday, asking if he had any objection to the urgent listing.

Mehta, on his part, responded that another law officer represents the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Jain’s matter but he had no objection to the hearing.

The Delhi high court had earlier this month affirmed the decision to move the case to a new trial judge following a request by the ED.

By its decision on October 1, the high court had approved the transfer of the the case, noting that ED’s apprehension of bias by a trial court judge is reasonable and not based on flimsy grounds.

“The question is not of integrity or uprightness of the judge or of the authorities over which Jain once had jurisdiction, but is of an apprehension in the mind of a party…The facts show the department did not merely harbour such apprehension but rather had acted upon it by rushing to this court, hence it cannot be said to be flimsy or not reasonable,” the high court had said in its October 1 order.

On September 23, the principal district judge had allowed the transfer the case against Jain to another judge after ED moved an application stating that “there is a grave likelihood and a reason to believe that the issues (in the case) have been premeditated”. Jain had appealed against this order before the high court but to no avail.

The ED had arrested Jain on May 30 in a money laundering case based on a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the AAP leader in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Jain, currently in judicial custody, is accused of having laundered money through four companies linked to him and where he was holding shares.

Ends