A Delhi court granted bail to former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on Friday in a money laundering case, after he had spent 18 months in custody. Special Judge Vishal Gogne noted the significant delay in the trial and the likelihood that proceedings would take a long time to commence and conclude.
Jain, a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 30, 2022, on charges related to money laundering linked to four companies allegedly associated with him. The case originates from a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against Jain by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The judge granted bail on the condition of a ₹50,000 bail bond, along with two sureties of the same amount. Jain had previously challenged a trial court decision made on May 15, which denied him default bail. In response to his petition, the high court issued a notice on May 28 seeking the ED’s response.
Jain argued that the ED failed to complete its investigation within the statutory period, claiming that the incomplete charge sheet was filed to deny him his right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Jain’s arrest by the ED was part of a broader investigation, which also saw Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain arrested on June 30, 2022. Satyendar Jain had previously been granted regular bail by a trial court on September 6, 2019, in the CBI case.
