Why Bail not be Granted to Accused Vaibhav and Ankush, Delhi High Court Issues Notice to ED

The Delhi high court on Monday issues notice to ED on pleas filed by accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain in a money laundering case. 

Earlier While dismissing the bail plea of Satyender Jain, the trial court had also rejected the bail petitions of Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain, co accused in the case.

The Trial Court has said, it has prima facie come on record that accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain knowingly assisted co-accused Satyendar Kumar Jain in the concealment of proceeds of crime and by projecting the proceeds of crime to be untainted by claiming the proceeds of crime to be their unaccounted income under IDS, 2016 and hence, are prima facie guilty of the offence of money laundering as defined in Section 3 of the PMLA.

On December 1, the Delhi high court had issued notice to Enforcement Directorate (ED) on petition filed by Jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain challenging a trial court’s order denying him bail in a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The Delhi high court had also directed the ED to file its response within two weeks and listed the case for further hearing on December 20.
Satyendar Jain in his plea said that “he was not in a position to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence and there was no risk in granting relief in the case registered by the ED on September 30, 2017 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

In his plea, the AAP leader claimed that since he was not in possession of any such money, the offense under PMLA was not made out. The petition claimed that the Special Judge and the ED had drawn an incorrect inference on the basis of only a few entries, which could not constitute an offense under the PMLA.

Jain has challenged the trial court’s November 17 order rejecting his bail plea on the ground that he was prima facie involved in concealment of proceeds of crime.