SC extends Satyendar Jain’s interim bail plea

Jain was granted interim medical bail on May 26 citing his failing health and medical ailments. He underwent a spinal operation on July 21 following which the bail was extended multiple times.

The Supreme Court on Friday extended interim bail to former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain for 10 days as one of the judges hearing the matter was on leave.

The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has been accused of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. (HT photo)

A bench of justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma posted the matter for December 4 as justice AS Bopanna, who is hearing the matter, was not available. A specially constituted bench of justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi is hearing the pleas filed by Jain seeking regular bail in a money laundering case.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Jain along with advocate Vivek Jain told the court that the matter could be placed in the first week of December and requested for the interim bail to continue. The bench allowed the request and extended the medical bail till the next hearing.

Jain was granted interim medical bail on May 26 citing his failing health and medical ailments. He underwent a spinal operation on July 21 following which the bail was extended multiple times. He was arrested in May last year in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Jain told the court earlier that following his surgery, doctors advised him to take physiotherapy, and aquatic exercises, with limited body movements which would not be possible if he surrendered. ED agreed to provide all the necessary treatment in custody and insisted on his surrender.

Jain then approached the top court against a Delhi high court order of April 6 refusing him bail. In his appeal before the top court, he complained of depression, a patch on his lungs after suffering from Covid-19 last year, acute lumbar pain and associated vertigo, degeneration of intervertebral discs, and sleep apnea.

In May, Jain claimed to have lost 35kg of weight. He complained of muscular atrophy and showed the medical opinion of doctors at three different hospitals recommending an operation for his disc-related problems. Jain was admitted to the ICU in Lok Nayak Hospital in May after he fell in the jail bathroom.

The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has been accused of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. Subsequent to the probe, ED had attached assets worth ₹4.81 crore belonging to these companies last year.