From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday extended till July24 the interim bail granted to former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on medical grounds in a money laundering case being probed by the enforcement directorate.
A Bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh directed senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for him to submit the medical reports to additional solicitor general S V Raju. Singhvi told the court that three hospitals have recommended surgery for jain.
The top court had granted six weeks of interim bail on May 26, saying a citizen has a right to receive treatment of his choice in a private hospital at his own cost. The ED had arrested Jain on May 30 last year on the charge of money laundering through four companies allegedly linked to him. He was earlier granted a regular bail on September 6, 2019 in the case registered by the CBI.
Meanwhile, a Bench of Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha fixed hearing for bail by another Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader claimed that his wife’s health conddition is precrious. The registry had fixed the hearing on July 17 which is now advanced to July 14 on the request of his counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Sisodia had approached the top court against two separate orders passed by the Delhi high court, rejecting bail. On July 3, the HC refused to release him on bail in the ED case while by an earlier order of May 30, he was denied bail in the CBI case.
In his petition filed through advocate Vivek Jain, Sisodia told the top court that the chargesheet has already been filed by the CBI where the charges against him are punishable with less than seven years imprisonment. He pointed out that other co-accused were already out on bail.
The CBI probe into Delhi’s excise case was ordered on a complaint by the Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena in July where he sought a detailed investigation into rules being tweaked to benefit certain individuals and liquor barons. There were also suggestions of kickbacks being paid to those in power reaching up to Sisodia, who held the Excise portfolio.
It was under him, the 2021-22 excise policy was introduced in November 2021. The policy earned Delhi government ₹8,919.59 crore, estimated to be 27% higher than the base price bids at which the licenses were awarded.
Sisodia is in jail in connection with separate probes being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED in connection with alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.
