SC notice to ED on Delhi mantris plea

A court presided over by Justice MR Shah set the subject for hearing on October 31 and requested that the ED respond to Satyendar Jain’s petition.

The Delhi High Court’s decision to sustain the trial court’s order granting the agency’s request to transfer Satyendar Jain’s case to another judge was challenged by Satyendar Jain. The Delhi High Court’s decision was given notice by the Supreme Court to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Satyendar Jain had appealed the Delhi High Court’s decision upholding the trial court’s decision to transfer his bail request to a different judge. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal defended him.

The Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain’s appeal against the decision of the Principal District and Sessions Court authorising the transfer of his case to a different judge was rejected by the Delhi High Court.

The money laundering case against Jain was moved from one court to another on September 23, 2022, by the Principal District and Sessions Court judge.

The Delhi High Court noted in its ruling that the evidence demonstrated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not only had a suspicion of bias but also took action on it by going to the HC, hence the suspicion could not be deemed baseless or unreasonable.

The ED had filed a motion with the Principal District and Sessions Judge of Rouse Avenue Court requesting that the money laundering case against Satyendar Jain be assigned to a different Judge.

After bringing up a few points on the bail defences the court was currently considering, the ED petition requested that the case involving Delhi Cabinet Minister Satyendar Jain be transferred to Special Judge Geetanjali Goel.

In a day-long raid at various locations in Delhi and the National Capital Region on June 6, the central agency claimed to have arrested Satyendra Jain’s assistants and taken Rs 2.85 crore in cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg (NCR). The FBI also confiscated a number of digital data and incriminating documents during these raids.

The Central Bureau of Probe (CBI) filed a First Information Report (FIR) on August 24, 2017, which served as the foundation for the money-laundering investigation.

This FIR was filed against Satyendar Jain, Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain, and Ankush Jain in accordance with Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.