New Delhi [India]: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved the order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to disqualify Satyender Jain for being a member of the Legislative Assembly and a Minister in the Delhi Government.
The Bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad on Tuesday after hearing the submission made by the petitioner’s counsel said, “We will pass appropriate order.” The plea stated that Satyender Jain, a cabinet minister in the Delhi Government, also a member of Legislative Assembly from Shakur Basti Assembly constituency himself declared that he had lost his memory before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the same has also been informed to the trial court by the Additional Solicitor General.
The plea submitted that the Delhi Government is clearly violating the Provisions of the Constitution of India under Article 191 (1)(b) which clearly state that ‘a Person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of State if he/she is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court’.
The petitioner Ashish Kumar Srivastava through Advocate Rudra Vikram Singh sought direction to Delhi Government to declare all the decisions null and void taken by him after he suffered from Covid and consequently lost his memory.
The petitioner also sought direction from the Centre to constitute a medical board to analyse the mental condition of Satyender Jain.
The petition further stated that Jain is handling many important portfolios in the Government of NCT of Delhi and every day he has to take a lot of decisions and had to sign on many documents/ orders, but as he himself declared his memory loss hence anyone can take the advantage of his illness and ultimately the voters of Delhi will suffer.
Jain last week had withdrawn his interim bail plea filed on medical grounds. He was arrested by the ED on May 30 in a money laundering case. The trial noted that Jain is getting discharged from the hospital and wishes to withdraw the application for interim bail.
The ED had filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) naming Delhi Minister Satyender Jain and others in a money laundering case. The ED prosecution complaint has named Satyender Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Ankush Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain and Sunil Jain including four private firms as accused. The above-mentioned accused in the prosecution complaint are accused of violations under sections of the money laundering Act.
The ED on June 6 had claimed to have seized 2.85 crore of cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from Satyender Jain’s aides during its day-long raid conducted at various places across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The agency had also seized various incriminating documents and digital records during these raids.
The ED had initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 24 August 2017 under Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Satyendar Jain, Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.
The CBI had also filed a charge sheet on December 3, 2018, against Satyender Jain and others. The charge sheet mentioned that Jain, while holding the office as a Minister in the Government of Delhi, during the period from 14 February 2014 to 31 May 2017, had acquired assets which were disproportionate to his known sources of income. The CBI has accused Satyender Jain and others of the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
