Satyendar Jain denied bail in money laundering case

A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed a plea for bail by Delhi's Health Minister Satyendar Kumar Jain in a money laundering case, saying it has prima facie come on record that he was actually involved in concealing the proceeds of crime by giving cash to the Kolkata-based entry operators and thereafter, bringing the cash into three companies.

Special Judge Vikas Dhull said Jain is not entitled to the benefit of bail having regard to the twin conditions provided in Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Jain was arrested in the PMLA case on May 30 and is presently lodged in Tihar jail.

Section 45 of the PMLA laid down 'twin conditions' for the grant of bail to an accused, to be ascertained by the court – “reasonable grounds for believing that she/he is not guilty of such offence”; and “she/he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail”.

In its order, the court noted Jain has prima facie indulged in the offence of money laundering of more than Rs 1 crore.

"Further, the offence of money laundering is a serious economic offence and the view of the Supreme Court with regard to economic offences is that they constitute a class apart and need to be visited with a different approach in the matter of bail," the court said.

It also cited the Supreme Court's ruling that “the economic offences have deep-rooted conspiracies and involve a huge loss of public funds need to be viewed seriously and considered as grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and thereby posing a serious threat to the financial health of the country.”

"By this process, the proceeds of crime to the tune of 1/3rd of Rs 4.61 Crore has been laundered. Apart from that, Jain has also used the same modus operandi to convert his proceeds of crime of Rs 15,00,000 by receiving accommodation entries from Kolkata-based entry operators in his company by the name of M/s J J Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd," it said.

"Jain had knowingly done such an activity to obliterate the tracing of the source of ill-gotten money and accordingly, the proceeds of crime was layered through Kolkata-based entry operators in a way that its source was difficult to decipher," it further said.