Today, On 25th July, The Delhi High Court requested a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding a plea against a trial court’s summons to Satyendar Jain. Despite the ED’s opposition to the notice on Jain’s petition challenging the summons, the High Court proceeded to issue a formal notice.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court, On Thursday, issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in response to a petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain. Jain’s plea challenges the trial court’s order that summoned him in a money laundering case.
This summons based on an ED chargesheet that was acknowledged by the trial court in July 2022.
The ED opposed the issuance of notice on Jain’s petition challenging the summons.
Read Also: [BREAKING] Money Laundering Case| Delhi Court Rejects Satyendar Jain’s Final Bail Plea
Advocate Vivek Gurnani, representing the ED, emphasized,
“They have come after years. Summons were issued in July 2022. They have come here only when we took this argument in opposition to their default bail.”
Despite this opposition, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna proceeded to issue the formal notice.
Senior Advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Jain, assured the court that he would address all the arguments raised. Previously, in May, the High Court issued a notice to the ED regarding Jain’s plea for default bail. In this plea, Jain contested the Rouse Avenue Court‘s decision to deny him bail.
Currently, Jain remains incarcerated in connection with this case. The ED’s charges against Jain originate from an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The FIR cited Sections 13(2) (criminal misconduct by public servant) read with 13(e) (disproportionate assets) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The allegations stated that Jain had acquired movable properties in the names of various individuals between 2015 and 2017, for which he could not provide satisfactory explanations.
Subsequently, the ED also filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They alleged that several companies, beneficially owned and controlled by Jain, received accommodation entries amounting to Rs.4.81 crore from shell companies.
This purportedly against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through a hawala route.
In March of this year, the Supreme Court rejected Jain’s bail plea and ordered him to surrender to jail authorities immediately. Jain, who was arrested by the ED in May 2022, had been on medical bail for several months before the Supreme Court cancelled his bail in March 2024, sending him back to jail.
Last month, the Supreme Court instructed the Delhi High Court to expedite the decision on Jain’s bail plea.