Satyendar Jain was arrested in May this year. (File)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court at Rouse Avenue Court complex on Thursday allowed the plea for an early hearing on the bail application of Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case.
Special CBI judge Vikas Dhull allowed the plea for an early hearing and the matter has been listed for tomorrow. Satyendar Jain was arrested in May this year.
The Delhi High court on October 1, dismissed the plea of Jain challenging the trial court order transferring his money laundering case to another judge. The question is not of integrity or uprightness of the Judge but of apprehension in the mind of a party (ED), the High Court noted.
Thereafter, Jain moved to the Supreme Court. Later the plea was withdrawn.
Satyendar Jain had challenged the order of September 23, 2022, passed by the Principal District and Sessions Judge transferring his money laundering case from one court to another court.
His bail plea hearing was transferred to the court of Vikas Dhull from another court after hearing the application moved by the Enforcement Directorate.
Justice Yogesh Khanna noted in the order that the question is not of integrity or uprightness of the Judge but of apprehension in the mind of a party (ED).
Justice Khanna while passing the order observed that the facts show that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not merely harbor an apprehension of bias but had acted upon it as well by rushing to the HC and therefore the apprehension cannot be said to be flimsy or not reasonable.
The court has further observed, "the apprehensions raised were not at a belated stage, as the request for an independent medical evaluation were consistently made."
The court held that the district judge while transferring the case has considered all these aspects and therefore does not suffer from any illegality and does not require any interference.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had contended that the doctors and jail authorities were managed as the accused earlier had the Health and Jail Department portfolio as Delhi cabinet Minister.
The ED had initiated the money-laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 24, 2017.
The FIR was registered under Section 13(2) and 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Satyendar Jain, Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.
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