4 Dec 2023 8:50 AM GMT
The Supreme Court on Monday (December 4) adjourned the hearing of Satyendar Jain's bail plea until Monday, December 11. However, it agreed to extend the interim bail granted earlier this year to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader until the next date of hearing.
A bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi is currently hearing the former Delhi government cabinet minister's special leave petition challenging a decision of the Delhi High Court to deny him bail in April. Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022 and was granted interim bail due to medical reasons in May.
The hearing today, just like the previous hearing, was adjourned since Justice Trivedi was sitting in a two-judge combination with Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. The hearing was deferred until Monday, December 11, but Justice Trivedi indicated that she would clarify whether the matter would have to be heard by a bench presided by Justice Bopanna. When Singhvi urged the court to adjourn the hearing until January on account of Justice Bopanna being incapacitated and extend the interim order till then, Justice Trivedi said, "Interim order cannot continue for that long, we will have to see..."
In response, Singhvi argued, "The learned judge who is presiding over this in a bench constituted by the chief justice is not sitting owing to illness. The matter has also been heard in part, at length. We have been told he will sit in January. If the bench that is hearing the matter is not sitting, the interim order cannot be touched. The bench heard the matter for two and a half hours..."
Ultimately, Justice Trivedi directed the hearing to be deferred until next Monday to get more clarity. The interim bail granted to Satyendar Jain was also extended by the court till then.
Case Title
Satyendar Kumar Jain v. Directorate of Enforcement | Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 6561 of 2023