Delhi HC reserves order on petition seeking SatyendarJain’s removal as MLA

The petitioner, Ashish Kumar Srivatsava, said in his plea that the public may be affected if Satyendar Jain, a minister of state, issued directions that he 'does not remember'.

The Delhi high court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea seeking the disqualification of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain as a lawmaker on the grounds of him allegedly being of “unsound mind”, following his arrest in a money laundering case.

The petitioner asserted that in light of Article 191 (1)(b) of the Constitution, which mandates that an MLA should be disqualified if he is of “unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court”, Jain cannot continue holding the portfolio of a Delhi Cabinet minister and working as an MLA. (PTI)

A bench comprising chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad, after hearing the arguments, said it will pass “appropriate orders” on the plea by one Ashish Kumar Srivastava, who claimed that Jain “himself declared that he lost his memory” before the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The petitioner told the court that ED is not an ordinary agency and any statement made to it is admissible in court.

His plea said that in response to Jain’s bail application before the trial court, the ED said that the AAP leader “accepted that he had lost his memory due to severe Covid” and “the news of losing the memory is covered by all media sources and it is very much in the public domain”.

The petitioner said that the public may be affected if Jain, a minister of state, issued directions that he does not remember.

“Continuing an unsound person with so many important portfolios of the government is cheating the voters of Delhi, who have elected a person with a clean image and good mental health. Respondent No 5 (Jain) is holding an important portfolio in government and because of his mental illness/unsound mind/memory loss the public of the NCT of Delhi will suffer a lot,” the petition said.

The petitioner asserted that in light of Article 191 (1)(b) of the Constitution, which mandates that an MLA should be disqualified if he is of “unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court”, Jain cannot continue holding the portfolio of a Delhi Cabinet minister and working as an MLA.

Last month, the high court had dismissed a plea to suspend Jain from the Cabinet following his arrest in a money laundering case, saying it is for the chief minister to consider whether a person with a criminal background should be allowed to continue as a minister or not.

Jain was arrested on May 30 by ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is presently in judicial custody.