The Delhi High Court Today (Feb 17) asked AAP leader Satyendar Jain to respond to the ED’s plea for delaying arguments on framing charges in a money laundering case. The ED wants the hearing postponed until it files a supplementary chargesheet.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked AAP leader Satyendar Jain to respond to a request by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to delay arguments on framing charges in a money laundering case against him.
Justice Vikas Mahajan sent a notice to Jain regarding ED’s request, which was made in an ongoing case filed by the AAP leader.
The high court scheduled the next hearing for March 3.
In his petition, Jain requested that the arguments on charges be postponed because the investigation is still ongoing. He argued that it would be fair to discuss the charges only after the probe is fully completed.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its request, also asked the court to instruct the special court to delay the hearing on charges until it submits a supplementary prosecution complaint (chargesheet).
“To a limited extent I am agreeable to what the petitioner (Jain) is saying that till the time we file the supplementary prosecution complaint, defer the hearing on charges. No prejudice will be caused to the petitioner because that was also his prayer in the main petition,”
-the ED’s counsel argued.
The ED’s lawyer also informed the court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already submitted a supplementary chargesheet in the trial court on January 3. In this chargesheet, the CBI increased the amount of alleged disproportionate assets from Rs 1.47 crore to Rs 3.95 crore.
The ED’s counsel emphasized that delaying the hearing was necessary so that they could file their own supplementary chargesheet, considering the latest developments in the CBI case.
Earlier, the high court had asked the ED to respond to Jain’s petition, in which he requested that the arguments on framing charges in the money laundering case should be put on hold until his plea is resolved.
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Jain was arrested by the ED on May 30, 2022, but was granted bail by the trial court on October 18, 2024. He is accused of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him.
The former Delhi health minister has also challenged the trial court’s order from September 4, 2024, which rejected his request to delay arguments on framing charges.
In his plea, Jain stated that the investigation is still ongoing and that arguments on charges should be heard only after the probe is complete.
“If the investigating agency is in possession of material which may exculpate the accused in any manner, the court is bound to consider such material at the time of forming a prima facie view,”
-it said.
ALSO READ: Satyendar Jain Bail Plea | Supreme Court to Delhi HC: “Don’t Adjourn Unnecessarily”
The ED arrested Jain in the money laundering case based on a CBI FIR filed against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Jain was earlier granted regular bail by a trial court on September 6, 2019, in the case registered by the CBI.
In 2022, the trial court acknowledged the prosecution complaint filed by the ED against Jain, his wife, and eight others, including four firms, in connection with the money laundering case.
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