New Delhi, 25 August (H.S.):

The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Tuesday reserved its order on the bail plea of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in the Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant (STP) scam case.

During the hearing, counsel appearing for Satyendar Jain submitted that he was arrested 27 months after the case was registered and had been called for questioning only once.

The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), however, alleged during the hearing that Jain was a habitual offender. Satyendar Jain and the other accused were arrested on August 18. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Jain, had challenged his arrest as illegal, arguing that he was not informed of the grounds for his arrest at the time of being taken into custody, in violation of Supreme Court guidelines.

Apart from Jain, the ACB arrested former Delhi Jal Board CEO Udit Prakash Rai, former Delhi Jal Board contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava, Nagendra Yadav, owner of M/s AN Enterprises, Raja Kumar Kurra, owner of M/s Eurotech Environment Pvt. Ltd., and Pankaj Verma, owner of M/s Srijanhar.

The accused were arrested in connection with an FIR registered by the ACB on May 11, 2024, under Sections 7, 7A, 9 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 42, 409, 418 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

The ACB has alleged that the tender conditions were deliberately framed to favour a particular company.

Satyendar Jain was released from Tihar Jail in October 2024 in connection with a money-laundering case. He had spent 872 days in custody in the case after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 30, 2022. The trial court granted him bail on October 18, 2024.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar