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Delhi HC junks plea seeking to suspend Jain as state minister
A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the plea by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Nand Kishore Garg, which contended that Jain is still enjoying the perks and privileges of a cabinet minister, despite facing criminal proceedings.
The Delhi high court on Thursday declined to entertain a plea seeking the suspension of Satyender Jain as a cabinet minister of Delhi in the wake of his arrest in a money laundering case.
A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the plea by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Nand Kishore Garg, which contended that Jain is still enjoying the perks and privileges of a cabinet minister, despite facing criminal proceedings.
“We know our limitations. We have to obey the statutes, rules, and notifications. We cannot travel beyond that. We are not the lawmakers,” the court said. A detailed order in this matter is awaited.
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On June 18, a city court had denied bail to Jain and said the case in which he stands arrested is still under investigation and the possibility of evidence tampering cannot be ruled out given the “influential” position that Jain holds.
Garg’s petition, filed through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, said Jain was arrested in the money laundering case over his alleged involvement in hawala transactions in 2015-2016 with a Kolkata-based firm. His actions are “repugnant and inconsistent with the rule of law” as Jain is a public servant who took a constitutional oath to uphold the rule of law, the petition argued.
The plea claimed that the factual scenario, in this case, is also contrary to the law -- Rule 10 of The Central Civil Services (Classification, Control, and Appeal) Rules, 1965 -- as applicable to a public servant, who by law is deemed suspended in case he is given into custody for more than 48 hours.
Jain was arrested on May 30 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was first sent to police custody and thereafter to judicial custody.
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The case is based on a 2017 CBI FIR lodged against the minister. The ED has accused him of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him and in which he was holding shares, while amassing disproportionate income.
According to ED, Jain transferred money to Kolkata through hawala channels 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.
