The Delhi High Court observed that the court cannot declare Satyender Jain as a person with an unsound mind and disqualify him from being a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or the Minister in the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi in the facts and circumstances of the case.

The observation of the Delhi High Court has come in an order passed in a PIL that sought direction to disqualify Satyender Jain for being the Member of the Legislative Assembly and apparently the Minister in the Government of NCT of Delhi.

The bench of Justice Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad also said that the court has carefully gone through the entire material on record and has also heard learned counsel for the petitioner at length.

“It is true that cases have been registered against Satyender Jain and he is facing prosecution for various offences under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act as well as Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” the bench said.

However, the fact remains that the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is a complete code in itself which provides a mechanism in respect of investigation, inquiry and trial. The Code of Criminal Procedure caters to all contingencies and it is for the prosecution/ court to take appropriate steps in accordance with the law.

The Delhi High Court had decided to reserve the order on a Public Internet Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to disqualify Satyender Jain for being a member of the Legislative Assembly and apparently the Minister in Government of NCT of Delhi on Tuesday.

The plea stated that Satyender Jain, a cabinet minister in the Delhi Government, also a member of the Legislative Assembly from Shakur Basti Assembly constituency himself declared that he lost his memory before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the same was also 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 states 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 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 to the Centre to constitute a Medical Board to analyse the mental condition of Satyender Jain.

The Petition further stated that Satyendra 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 many documents/ orders, but as he himself declare his memory loss hence anyone can take the advantage of his illness and ultimately the voters of Delhi will suffer.

Delhi’s Cabinet Minister Satyender Jain on August 6 had withdrawn his interim bail plea filed on medical grounds.

Jain was on May 30 arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. The Trial Court noted that Satender Jain is getting discharged from the hospital and wished to withdraw his 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 had 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 cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from Satyendra 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 3 December 2018 against Satyender Jain and others.

The charge sheet mentioned that Satyender 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 Satyendar Kumar Jain and others of the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.