Delhi court dismisses default pleas of Satyendar Jain's aides in money laundering case

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) In a case of money laundering and disproportionate assets against AAP leader Satyendar Jain, two other accused -- Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain -- had their bail application dismissed by a Delhi court on Wednesday.

Vaibhav and Ankush, who are alleged to have assisted Satyendar Jain in acquiring assets that exceeded his known sources of income, had their default bail applications rejected by Special Judge Vikas Dhull.

The accused had filed the application, arguing that they were entitled to statutory bail since the chargesheet against them was incomplete.

During the hearing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while opposing their application, stated that the accused were arrested on June 30, 2022, for the crime of money laundering. The prosecution complaint, equivalent to a chargesheet, was filed on July 27, 2022, well within the prescribed 60-day period.

However, the accused argued that the chargesheet, also referred to as the final report, was incomplete as the agency claimed that the investigation was still ongoing.

The judge stated that if the court is able to acknowledge and recognise the alleged offence as described in the chargesheet, then the chargesheet is considered complete.

"In such a scenario, the accused does not have the right to default bail. The judge emphasized that the content of the chargesheet regarding further investigation by the agency is irrelevant."

The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2017 under Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(e) of the PC Act, 1988 against Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain, and Ankush Jain.

The CBI has alleged that Jain, while holding the office of a Minister in the Government of Delhi from February 14, 2015 to May 31, 2017, had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

A chargesheet was filed by the CBI on December 3, 2018, against Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and other accused.

Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by Jain on March 31, 2022.