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Synopsis

A division bench of the Supreme Court today refused to allow Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Leader Satyendar Jain's bail plea in a money laundering case registered against him by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED). 

"The appeals are dismissed. The petitioner is directed to surrender forthwith", ordered a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal.

In May 2023, Supreme Court had issued notice in the bail plea after it was told by Senior Advocate AM Singhvi, that Jain was facing extreme health problems. 

The instant appeal was filed against the order passed by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma of the Delhi High Court “dismissing” the bail pleas filed by Jain and two co-accused Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain in April 2023.

While denying bail to Jain, the high court had said that the broad probability indicated that four concerned companies were "controlled and operated by Satyendar Kumar Jain".

The constantly changing shareholding patterns of the company 'clearly indicate' that he was indirectly controlling the companies, high court had observed. Furthermore, the court stated that taking in the totality the facts, the petitioners at this stage could not be held to have cleared the "Twin Conditions" of PMLA or the "Tripod Test".

The bail application filed by Satyendra Jain pertained to his arrest in a Money Laundering case in which he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 31, 2022.

In April, ED attached assets worth Rs. 4.81 crores linked to Jain and his family. ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jain and others under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

It is alleged that when Jain was a public servant, companies owned and controlled by him received up to Rs. 4.81 crores from shell companies through the Hawala network.

Case Title: Satyendar Kumar Jain vs. Directorate of Enforcement