SC extends interim bail granted to AAP leader Satyendar Jain till Dec 11

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday extended till December 11 the interim bail granted to former Delhi minister Satyendar Kumar Jain in a money laundering case.

The apex court is seized of a plea filed by Jain challenging the April 6 order of the Delhi High Court which had dismissed his bail plea in the case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The top court had on May 26 granted him interim bail on medical grounds for six weeks. Later, the relief was extended by the court.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma.

The counsel appearing for Jain said a special bench comprising Justice A S Bopanna and Justice Trivedi had earlier heard the arguments in the matter.

He said since Justice Bopanna, the presiding judge of the bench, was not available on Monday, the matter be listed for hearing on another date.

"We have to see whether to continue the interim order because it can't be for such a long time," Justice Trivedi observed.

Jain's counsel requested the bench to list the matter for hearing next week.

While adjourning the matter until December 11, the bench said, "Interim order to continue".

The ED had earlier claimed that the AAP leader was seeking repeated adjournments in the trial court on grounds that his bail plea was pending before the apex court. The probe agency had alleged that Jain has taken as many as 16 dates from the trial court.

The apex court had on May 26 granted interim bail to Jain for six weeks on medical grounds, saying a citizen has a right to receive treatment of his choice in a private hospital at his own expense.

The ED had arrested the AAP leader on May 30 last year on the charge of money laundering through four companies allegedly linked to him. It had arrested Jain on the basis of a CBI FIR registered against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Jain, who has denied these allegations, was granted regular bail by the trial court on September 6, 2019 in the case registered by the CBI.