Observing that bail pleas should not be delayed unnecessarily, the Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 25) expressed hope that the Delhi High Court will without delay Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendra Jain. will decide on the application for pre-arranged bail.
A holiday bench of Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice SVN BhattI was hearing Jain's challenge against the Delhi High Court's order of May 28, which issued a notice adjourning his anticipatory bail plea till July 9, 2024.
Initially, the bench asked Senior Advocate Dr. AM Singhvi, Appearing for Jain, regarding the illegal order. Singhvi agreed that what was under challenge was essentially the adjournment order. However, he said the High Court could not grant a longer extension of six weeks. He submitted that an important point of law arose in this case – whether an incomplete charge sheet can be filed by the investigating agency to defeat the right to anticipatory bail. He informed the bench that the same issue was pending before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court and requested that Jain's petition be tagged along with those petitions.
On this occasion, Justice Misra said that since a three-judge bench was considering a point of law, it could not be appropriate for the present two-judge bench to deal with the matter. Justice Mishra advised the petitioner to wait for the final decision of the High Court.
“This issue is pending before a three-judge bench…as a three-judge bench will examine the matter we cannot enter into the merits. As far as your case is concerned, the High Court has to decide. Let it be.” Justice Mishra said that finally the adjournment order was under challenge.
The Bench disposed of the petition by passing the following order.
“This petition is against the order of the Delhi High Court adjourning the hearing of the bail application till 09.07.2024. Mr. Singhvi submitted that the question of law which would give effect to the judgment of the High Court, is drawing the attention of 3- Bench of this Court and therefore it is appropriate to tag the matter with this matter as we do not see any merit in the petition as the High Court will decide the matter itself and if the petitioner from the High Court. Angry. Order, he can challenge it.
At this stage, Mr. Singhvi submitted that this Court observes that the High Court decides the matter on a fixed date. It goes without saying that the bail pleas are not unnecessarily delayed and thus we hope and trust that the High Court will decide the matter when it next comes up in the list.”
Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 30 May 2022 on charges of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He, along with others, was accused of money laundering through three companies between 2010-12 and 2015-16.
Last year, in April, the Delhi High Court had rejected his pre-arrest plea on the grounds that he was an influential person and had the capacity to tamper with evidence.
He remained in custody until a vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and PS Narasimha granted him interim bail on May 26 last year on health grounds, which was extended on several occasions. .
However, recently, in March this year, the Supreme Court, while refusing to grant him bail, also canceled his interim bail and asked him to surrender immediately. The order was delivered by a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mittal.
Case Title: Satyendra Kumar Jain Vs Enforcement Directorate, SLP (CRL) No. 8228/2024