A Public Internet Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to
disqualify Satyender Jain for being a member of the Legislative Assembly and a
Minister in the Delhi Government was reserved by the Delhi High Court on
Tuesday.
"We will pass appropriate order," said a Bench of
Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad after hearing the
submission made by the petitioner's counsel.
The plea stated that Satyender Jain,
a cabinet minister in the Delhi Government, also a member of Legislative
Assembly from Shakur Basti Assembly constituency himself declared that he had
lost his memory before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the same has also
been informed to the trial court by the Additional Solicitor General.
The plea submitted that the Delhi Government is clearly
violating the Provisions of the Constitution of India under Article 191 (1)(b)
which clearly state that 'a Person shall be disqualified for being chosen as,
and for being, a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of
State if he/she is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent
court'.
The petitioner Ashish Kumar Srivastava through Advocate Rudra
Vikram Singh sought direction to Delhi Government to declare all the decisions
null and void taken by him after he suffered from Covid and consequently lost
his memory.
The petitioner also sought direction from the Centre to
constitute a medical board to analyse the mental condition of Satyender Jain.
The petition further stated that Jain is handling many
important portfolios in the Government of NCT of Delhi and every day he has to
take a lot of decisions and had to sign on many documents/ orders, but as he
himself declared his memory loss hence anyone can take the advantage of his
illness and ultimately the voters of Delhi will suffer.
Jain last week had withdrawn his interim bail plea filed on
medical grounds. He was arrested by the ED on May 30 in a money laundering
case. The trial noted that Jain is getting discharged from the hospital and
wishes to withdraw the application for interim bail.
The ED had filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet)
naming Delhi Minister Satyender Jain and others in a money laundering case. The
ED prosecution complaint has named Satyender Jain, his wife Poonam Jain,
Vaibhav Jain, Ankush Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain and Sunil Jain including four
private firms as accused. The above-mentioned accused in the prosecution
complaint are accused of violations under sections of the money laundering Act.
The ED on June 6 had claimed to have seized 2.85 crore of
cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from Satyender Jain's aides during its
day-long raid conducted at various places across Delhi and the National Capital
Region (NCR). The agency had also seized various incriminating documents and
digital records during these raids.
The ED had initiated a money-laundering investigation on the
basis of a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) on 24 August 2017 under Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Satyendar Jain, Poonam Jain, Ajit
Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.
The CBI had also filed a charge sheet on December 3, 2018,
against Satyender Jain and others. The charge sheet mentioned that Jain, while
holding the office as a Minister in the Government of Delhi, during the period
from 14 February 2014 to 31 May 2017, had acquired assets which were
disproportionate to his known sources of income. The CBI has accused Satyender
Jain and others of the commission of offences under the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988.
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