A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge on Tuesday granted Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s custody in a money laundering case.
This is based upon a case registered by the CBI in the Prevention of Corruption Act in August 2017.
Special CBI Judge Geentanjali Goyal of Rouse Avenue Court granted nine days of ED custody to Jain for interrogating him in a money laundering case. He was arrested by the agency on Monday. He is to be produced before the court on June 9.
The order was passed by the court on Tuesday night.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta and Naveen Kumar Matta appeared on the behalf of ED. ED has moved an application seeking remand of 14 days of custody. The Court after hearing the submission of the prosecution and defence counsels granted nine days of custody to ED.
SG Tushar Mehta had argued before the court that there is material evidence and reasons to believe that the said accused is guilty of the offence of money laundering. The accused is in possession of the proceeds of crime generated through criminal activities.
It was alleged that Jain during his tenure as minister in the Delhi government between February 2015 to May 2017 acquired assets in the form of movable and immovable properties in his name and in the name of his family members, which are disproportionate to his known source of income.
SG Mehta Submitted that it is a case of money laundering through shell companies. It was submitted that during the check period of February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017 accommodation entries against cash totalling Rs 4.81 crore (approximately) were received in the four companies from Kolkata based entry operators through shell companies.
The four companies namely Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Prayas info solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mangalayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd.
He also submitted that the custodial interrogation of the accused to unearth the source of cash, establish a money trail, extract the exact quantum of tainted money involved to determine the role of various other persons, to ascertain the modus operandi involved in the commission of the offence of money laundering in the instant case.
It was also submitted that the custodial interrogation is required for the confrontation with the voluminous incriminating material and with the statements of various persons recorded in the case.
On the other hand, the application was opposed by Senior Advocate N. Hariharan. He submitted that it is not a case of custody, it is a case of bail. No new facts have emerged now. The application for custody remand is a replica of the charge sheet filed by the CBI and is under consideration before the court.
Hariharan also submitted that "What the prosecution is trying to do is that it is holding me responsible for the acts of other accused persons. I am not responsible for the acts done by others."
The defence counsel urged the court to direct the investigation agency to provide medicines to Jain. They also requested a direction from the agency to allow him to have 'Jain' food.
During the hearing of the case, family members including the wife, daughters and son of Jain were present in the court.
( With inputs from ANI )
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