Delhi court dismisses Minister Satyendar Jain’s bail plea in money laundering case

Satyender Jain prima facie indulged in money laundering, said the Court while dismissing his bail plea.

The Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday dismissed the bail petition of Delhi Minister Satyender Jain in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case and said the accused Satyender Kumar Jain had knowingly done such activities to obliterate the tracing of the source of ill-gotten money and accordingly, the proceeds of crime were layered through Kolkata-based entry operations in a way that its source was difficult to decipher.

“Hence, the applicant or accused Satyender Kumar Jain has prima facie indulged in the offence of money laundering of more than Rs 1 crore. Further, the offence of money laundering is a serious economic offence and the view of the Supreme Court of India with regard to economic offences is that they constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail,” said the Court.

The Special Judge Vikas Dhull on Thursday dismissed the bail petitions of Satyender Jain and two others and said that the Supreme Court has held that “the economic offences have deep-rooted conspiracies and involve a huge loss of public funds that need to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing a serious threat to the financial health of the country.”

Hence, the accused Satyender Kumar Jain is not entitled to the benefit of bail having regard to the twin conditions provided in Section 45 of the PMLA.

The application of the accused Satyender Kumar Jain is dismissed, the court said.

The Court also noted that co-accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain had declared entire accommodation entries of Rs 16.50 crore including Rs 4.61 crore received during the check period as their own unaccounted income was also done with a view to show that the entire unaccounted income is untainted and belongs to them.

However, the material which has come on record shows that the declaration made by co-accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain under the IDS, 2016 on September 27, 2016, was not a true disclosure as accused Satyender Kumar Jain had also provided cash during the check period, which is prima facie established from the statement of witnesses.

During arguments, ASG for ED submitted that there are witnesses and materials sufficient to make out a case of money laundering against the accused. ASG submitted that the accused was involved in money laundering with other accused.

He sent money to Kolkata-based companies and that money belonged to Jain. He is the conspirator and kingpin.

ED had also raised the issue of special treatment given to Satyender Jain in the Tihar Jail.

Special food is being provided to him and he is getting massages from unknown people. Most of the time, he is either in the hospital or in jail enjoying these facilities, said the ED.

The enforcement agency has alleged that the companies which were “beneficially owned and controlled” by Jain had received accommodation entries amounting to Rs 4.81 crore from the shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through a hawala route.

The ED case is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complaint registered on the allegation that Satyender Jain had acquired movable properties in the name of various persons from February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017, which he could not satisfactorily account for. (ANI)

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