Delhi court reserves order on Satyendar Jain’s bail plea

Opposing the bail plea petition by Jain’s counsel, senior advocate N Hari Haran, the ED claimed that Jain said he was suffering from memory loss after suffering from Covid-19.

A Delhi court on Tuesday reserved its order on a bail petition moved by Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain till June 18 in an alleged money laundering case with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) saying that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator has been evasive during questioning and Jain’s counsel arguing that his client has cooperated with the agency at all stages of the probe.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain was arrested on charges of money laundering on May 30 and was remanded in ED custody till June 9. (HT File Photo/Sanchit Khanna)

Opposing the bail plea petition by Jain’s counsel, senior advocate N Hari Haran, the ED claimed that Jain said he was suffering from memory loss after suffering from Covid-19 when the minister was confronted with documents in connection with alleged hawala transactions related to a trust.

Arguing before Special judge Geetanjali Goel, additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju, for ED, alleged that Jain refused to admit his signatures when confronted with hawala transactions by the Lala Sher Singh Memorial Trust. “He denies his signatures and says that they need to be checked. He also says that he had severe Covid-19 and so he has lost his memory, and does not know about the documents we are confronting him with,” the ASG said.

Alleging that the minister was “evasive” and “non-co-operative”, the ASG claimed that despite showing him documents, where he had signed in the capacity of the President, Jain completely disassociated himself from the Trust and said that neither he nor any of his family members had any business with that entity.

“During investigation we came across similar transactions (hawala) on the Lala Sher Singh Memorial Trust following which on June 8, 2022 we asked him about the other entities and confronted him (Jain) with documents. However, he said that he does not know anything about the Trust and that none of his family members have been involved in it,” the ASG contended.

Advocate N Hari Haran opposed the submissions and said that Jain’s custody is not required any further, as the agency has not found anything against the minister in the last five years since the CBI registered the case.

Hari Haran told the court that Jain has co-operated at every stage after the agency called him multiple times in the last five years. He said that Jain has no connection to others named in the case, and even though the surnames match, there is no relation between them.

He added that Jain had resigned from the post of president after before assuming public office.

Citing Jain’s medical condition, the senior lawyer said that Jain has several post Covid-19 symptoms and “had just managed to survive” after being infected in June 2020.

During the proceedings, the court asked that when the money trail has been established, what would be the purpose of the custody. ASG Raju replied that the agency is trying to find out if any resale of lands or any such thing has taken place.To this the court replied, “You may go on with the investigation but can it become a part of the present case”.

Jain was arrested on May 30 and was sent to 14 days in jail on Monday at the end of his custodial interrogation by the federal agency.

The case is based on a 2017 CBI FIR lodged against the minister. ED has accused him of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him, while amassing disproportionate income.

According to ED, Jain transferred money to Kolkata through hawala channel and got it back from dummy companies in the form of accommodation entries, even though he could not show the source of the money received. It has also been alleged that the money was used to buy lands in Delhi that have already been provisionally attached by ED.