The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain which challenges order by a lower court to transfer his bail plea in a money laundering case to another lawyer than the one who was hearing it.
The Single-judge Justice Yogesh Khanna asked the Enforcement Directorate for filing its response in the case before it is finally disposed on September 28, Wednesday.
The former Health minister of Delhi, Satyendar Jain approached the Delhi High Court for challenging an order passed by Principal District and Sessions Court Vinay Kumar Gupta of the Rouse Avenue court allowing ED’s plea for transferring his case to Justice Vikas Dhull instead of Justice Geejanjali Goel.
The Special Judge Geetanjli Goel was hearing the bail plea for Satyendar Jain and the matter was in its final stage,when the Enforcement Directorate sought transfer of the matter alleging bias on the part of the judge.
Rouse Avenue court permitted and prompted for the the present plea before the High Court.
Senior Advocate N Hariharan, who appeared for the AAP leader Jain said that the order of the District Judge can send across a wrong message.
The lawyer said that the bail application was being heard by learned trial courts since August. the only difficulty is that the court said in 14 days the bail has to be decided.
He emphasised on the urgency of the matter and said that the district judge’s order itself states that the judge is upright and honest and this bias is completely unfounded. The district judge did not consider the issues that were to be considered. It sends a wrong message.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the ED.