Supreme Court Adjourns Bail Hearing Of AAP Leader Satyendar Jain In Money Laundering Case Until December 4; Interim Bail To Continue

A bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi is currently hearing the former Delhi government cabinet minister's special leave petition challenging a decision of the Delhi High Court to deny him bail in April. Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022 and was granted interim bail due to medical reasons in May.

In August, the court extended Jain’s interim bail for the second time after Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the embattled legislator, stated that he was undergoing rehabilitation following a complex spinal operation. Despite opposition from Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju, who advocated for an independent examination by AIIMS and a cancellation of interim bail, the bench agreed to defer Jain’s surrender. Since then, the case has witnessed a number of adjournments. But during one such hearing that subsequently got adjourned, the additional solicitor-general flagged alleged delay tactics being used by Jain to push back the trial court hearing. In response, the apex court directed him to 'diligently' participate in the ongoing proceedings before the trial court. "It is made clear pendency of proceedings before this court or any reason shall not be used as an excuse or ruse to defer proceedings before trial court, but would diligently take part in proceedings before the trial court and permit the case to progress," the bench ordered.

The law officer's allegation, however, was met with opposition from the petitioner's lawyer on the last occasion. Among other things, Singhvi also questioned the necessity of Jain's arrest, pointing to the need to show a "demonstrable, obvious, and palpable reason for making an arrest". Since his arrest in May last year, Jain has spent almost an entire year in jail before finally being released on interim medical bail to undergo a spinal operation, the senior counsel told the court. Responding to the ED's claim that Jain was the beneficiary and controller of the 'irregular' transactions under its scanner, Singhvi pointed out he was neither a director of any of the three companies that allegedly received laundered money after being routed through Kolkata-based shell companies in the form of investments, nor had he financially benefitted from the amounts that were suspected to have been transferred from the three companies to co-accused Vaibhav and Ankush Jain.

The hearing today was adjourned since Justice Trivedi was sitting in a two-judge combination with Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. After deliberating with both Singhvi and ASG Raju, the hearing was deferred until Monday, December 4. The interim bail granted to Satyendar Jain, as well as co-accused Ankush and Vaibhab, was also extended by the court till then.