The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition to declare Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Satyendar Jain, who has been in judicial custody in a money laundering case since May 30, as “a person of unsound mind” and disqualify him from the Assembly on that basis as “ridiculous.”
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka dismissed the petition filed by a Delhi resident, imposing a 20,000 fine on the grounds that the petition was frivolous.“It is such a misconceived and frivolous petition that it deserves to be dismissed with a cost of ₹20,000,” stated the court in its order.
Asking petitioner Ashish Kumar Srivastava to deposit the penalty within a week, the court remarked: “It (plea) is so ridiculous that we must ask you to pay cost.”Srivastava’s lawyer argued in front of the bench that Jain told ED officers during questioning that he had lost his memory due to Covid-19.
According to the lawyer, the AAP MLA is thus disqualified under Article 191(1)(b) of the Constitution, which provides for the disqualification of a lawmaker who is of unsound mind.
But the bench responded: “He (Jain) did not say he has lost his memory but he perhaps said he doesn’t remember a few things. There is a difference. Also, Covid presented a scenario where people were affected. We are not saying whether he is taking advantage of this or not but we cannot entertain a petition like this.”
In August, Srivastava filed an appeal against a Delhi High Court order dismissing his petition. The high court then stated that the Code of Criminal Procedure covers all eventualities and that it is up to the prosecution/court to take appropriate legal action.
In July, the high court rejected a separate petition to remove Jain from the cabinet following his arrest in the money laundering case, stating that it is up to the chief minister to decide whether a person with a criminal record should be allowed to continue as a minister or not.
The ED arrested Jain on May 30 in connection with a case filed by the CBI against the AAP leader in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Jain is accused of laundering money through four companies in which he was a shareholder.