Delhi HC issues notice to ED on bail pleas by Ankush, Vaibhav Jain in money laundering case

New Delhi, Dec 12 The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on bail pleas filed by Aam Aadmi Party Minister Satyendar Jain's co-accused Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain in connection with the money laundering case.

A single-judge bench Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma has listed the matter for the next hearing on December 20 as even jailed AAP Minister's bail application is listed before the court for the same date.

On November 17, Special Judge Vikas Dhull of a trial court denied bail to Ankush and Vaibhav in the case. On December 1, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma of the Delhi High Court directed the ED to file its response to Satyendar Jain's plea within two weeks and the matter was listed for December 20.

The ED filed a charge sheet before a court against him and others in connection with the case on July 27. It was alleged that Jain, while holding the office as a Minister in the Delhi government, during the period from February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017, had acquired assets that were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Jain was placed under arrest on May 30, by the central agency under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2017 under Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(e) of the PC Act, 1988 against the Minister, his wife Poonam Jain, and Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain, and Ankush Jain. A charge sheet was filed by the CBI on December 3, 2018, against Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and other accused.

Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by Jain on March 31, 2022.