HC seeks ED reply as Satyendar Jain challenges transfer of case to new judge

Satyendra Jain has been accused of corruption in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the Enforcement Directorate’s response on a plea by the Aam Aadmi Party’s Satyendar Jain, challenging the trial court order which transferred its petition to a new judge. Justice Yogesh Khanna issued a notice and posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju - representing the probe agency - sought time.

File photo of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain. (ANI)

Advocate N Hari Haran - in the court on behalf of the Delhi minister - objected to the grant of time and said that Jain's bail application has been pending for a long time. He said that arguments were made for over a month before the case was transferred to another judge. "The bail application has to be decided. The sessions court order says that the judge is honest and upright, then why did it transfer the case. Where is the question of bias? It sends a wrong message from top to bottom," he said.

A couple of days ago, a Delhi court had transferred the money laundering case against Jain to a new judge. Within a few hours, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator moved the high court, challenging the ruling. The transfer had happened on account of “bias” following an application by the ED. The overall circumstances could raise apprehension of a probable bias, principal and sessions judge Vinay Kumar Gupta had said.

The court had said that the matter would be heard by special judge Vikas Dhull, instead of special judge Geetanjali Goel, who had been hearing the case since Jain's arrest. “In my considered opinion, the judge is a very upright officer. However, all the circumstances taken together are sufficient to raise a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner as a common man, not of any actual bias, but of a probable bias…,” the trial court said in its order.

However, Jain’s lawyer had objected to the move, calling it “illegal”. “The investigating agency tried to get it transferred at the fag end (of the bail hearing) to another judge, for some reasons unknown to us. The Supreme Court had directed that this (ED’s application for transfer) has to be decided in a day,” senior advocate Rahul Mehra had said.

“The district and sessions judge has decided the case yesterday and the order has been handed to us today. It (listing of the case) is urgent because the trial court judge has directed to decide the bail plea within a week..Now this transfer is completely illegal and bad in law,” Mehra submitted.