Delhi minister Jain’s bail petition rejected

NEW DELHI: A special CBI court on Saturday denied bail to Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain in connection with an alleged money laundering case, saying the matter is being probed and the possibility of tampering with evidence cannot be ruled out given the “influential” position of the accused.

Special judge Geetanjali Goel accepted the submissions of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that additional documents recovered during the search operations were yet to be examined and analysed, while the prosecution complaint (charge sheet) is also yet to be filed.

On June 14, when the court reserved its order on the bail plea, Jain’s counsel, senior advocate N Hari Haran opposed ED’S contention that Jain was evasive during questioning, and said he cooperated with the agency at all stages.

Court pulls ED up for ‘tardy’ probe

The court however pulled up the ED for being “tardy” in its probe. “ED itself has been tardy and took considerable time, during which time, the accused, if he wanted to influence the witnesses could have already done,” the judge said, adding that Jain cannot be considered a “flight risk”.

The court said even though ED submitted that Jain had been noncooperative and evasive during interrogation, the legislator joined the investigation on a number of occasions even before his arrest. It also added that the accused is a two-time MLA and a minister in the Delhi government.

“As such the accused cannot be regarded as a flight risk, and if the ED has slept over the case from 2018 to 2021 during which period, the accused even travelled abroad and came back and joined the investigation, it cannot now contend that the accused is a flight risk or he would flee from justice,” the court said.

The court, however, rejected contentions by Jain’s counsel for bail citing his medical condition, and said no documents have been produced to show his medical history.