A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Tuesday, 14 June, reserved its order on the bail plea of jailed Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case.
This comes after the prosecution argued that the investigation was still pending, and that Jain could influence witnesses involved in the case, news agency ANI reported.
The order was reserved by special CBI judge Geetanjali Goel. The court will likely pronounce its order on 18 June.
Jain was arrested by the ED in connection with the case on 30 May. The central agency had sought the extension of his remand last week as it had seized Rs 2.82 crore of cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from the premises of the minister and his aides during raids.
'No Possibility of Jain Running Away,' Counsel Argues
Senior Advocate N Hariharan had argued on behalf of Jain that his client had been in judicial custody after interrogation for 13 days, adding that no case of money laundering had been made out against the minister as legal requirements remained unfulfilled.
"There is no possibility of Jain running away. He went out of India during the investigation and came back. There is no possibility of tampering with the evidence. And lastly, there is no complaint of threats to witnesses. Agency has registered the statement of witnesses," the advocate said.
He also added that the land involved in the case was purchased by companies which were not controlled by Jain as he had a very small share in them, emphasising that companies and shareholders were separate entities.
Hariharan also said that his client was suffering from sleep apnea.
"The trust about which ED is talking about, my client had resigned from them before check period of 2015-2017. He has nothing to do with those trusts. Apart from that, he is suffering from sleep apnea," he said, as per ANI.
Opposing Jain's bail plea, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju said that the minister did not cooperate during the investigation, adding that his answers were always evasive.
The Case Against Jain
The ED, in April this year, had provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies allegedly linked to Jain and his relatives under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The properties belonging to Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd, JJ Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd, and others were attached in the case.
The ED said that its probe had revealed that during the period of 2015-16, the companies owned and controlled by Jain received accommodation entries of nearly Rs 4.81 crore from shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the "hawala route".
"These amounts were utilised for direct purchase of land or for the repayment of loan taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi," the ED had said.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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