The Delhi High Court (HC) on Thursday denied bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in the money laundering case in which he had been in custody since May 30, 2022.
The bail of co-accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain was also denied. The court said that all of the three accused failed to meet and pass the two conditions specified for bail under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Meanwhile, the Delhi HC on Thursday issued a notice to the CBI on the bail plea of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the alleged irregularities in the liquor excise policy.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma directed the investigating agency to file its response within two weeks on Sisodia's plea which claimed he is "totally innocent" and a "victim of a political witch-hunt", and asked the agency to state its stand. The High Court will next take up Sisodia's appeal on April 20.
In Jain's case Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma held that he is an influential person and cannot be said to have satisfied the twin conditions for bail under PMLA. "The simple fact is the CBI has filed a case of Disproportionate Assets (DA). The present court cannot go into validity of these proceedings. Facts show that certain DAs were masked. The court has to see the prima facie case. The broad probabilities indicate that the companies associated to him are controlled and managed by him. The learned Special Judge's order (rejecting bail to Jain) does not have any perversity. Order is well reasoned," the High Court said.
Jain is accused of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him. Jain has been behind bars since May 2022 when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The trial court had rejected his bail plea on November 17, 2022.