Satyendar Jain's ED custody extended till June 13 in money laundering case

A Delhi court on Thursday has extended till June 13, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in an alleged money laundering case.

Earlier today, Jain was produced before the Rouse Avenue District Court after nine days of ED custody after his arrest on May 30.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Health Minister on Thursday filed a bail application through his lawyer in court. After the hearing, Jain was taken to the hospital for a medical check-up, as he complained of medical issues.

Special Judge Geetanjali Goel extended the remand of Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain till Monday. The court said, "He will be produced on Monday at 10.30 am."

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ED had sought an extension of Jain`s custody for five days in order to confront him with evidence and documents recovered during the custody period.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju for ED submitted that during the remand they have conducted eight searches of premises of Lala Sher Singh memorial trust where Satyender Jain was president.

However, Jain has denied that he was part of the trust during interrogation. Notably, during the search conducted on June 7, the ED has said it seized various incriminating documents and digital records.

The ED said that the total movable assets were seized from an "unexplained source" and were "found to be secreted" in the raided premises.

More than Rs 2 crore in cash and gold weighing 1.8 kg were seized by the ED after raids against Jain and those linked to him, in a money laundering case.

The ED has submitted that Jain was not cooperating in the interrogation. "He takes a very long time to write his statements," Raju submitted.

On the other hand, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and N Hariharan opposed the extension of the remand saying that the recoveries are not connected with Jain. "ED has not asked any question about the gold and jeweler in the last two days," they submitted.

"ED doesn`t have the jurisdiction to investigate the new recoveries. They should have informed the other agencies for investigation of the same," senior advocates submitted before the court.

They submitted that the alleged money laundering offence was finished at the moment when the Agricultural land was attached by the ED.

They also argued that Jain always cooperated in the investigation. "He was called by ED many times and his statements were recorded."

The investigation has been underway since 2017 and the minister was arrested on May 30. Jain`s counsel also opposed the contention of ED that Jain and his wife were connected with any trust.

The court inquired from Satyender Jain about his health and whether he was taking food properly during custody, to which he replied that he doesn`t take food without going to the temple, "therefore he is taking fruits."

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Jain also informed the court that despite health problems, he is cooperating in the investigation.

"ED officials waste time, they don`t ask me anything for hours. Now they are saying that I don`t know how to write. I am a Minister and I know how to write," Jain said.

The Minister also said that he was not asked about the recovery of gold and cash, even after he asked them to question him on it.

"After reading the news of recoveries of gold and cash, I had asked the officials to ask me about that. They didn`t ask me anything. Now they are saying that there is a need to interrogate about the recoveries," Jain said before the court.

He was sent to ED custody from May 31 till June 9. He was arrested in a money laundering case connected with Disproportionate Asset (DA) case registered by CBI.