Money laundering case: SC adjourns AAP MLA's arrest plea hearing to June 18

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to June 18 the hearing on Punjab AAP MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra's plea challenging his arrest and remand by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering probe linked to a bank fraud case.

A vacation bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Augustine George Masih adjourned the matter after noting that the AAP MLA had not filed a rejoinder in the case.

At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, submitted that the matter is about Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and sufficiency of grounds. He said the issues raised in this case are similar to that of the Arvind Kejriwal matter where judgment is already reserved.

Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary, appearing for the Punjab AAP MLA, contended that the issues are not similar and the reason for being remanded is primarily non-appearance.

The apex court then sought to know whether pleadings in the matter were complete. On being informed that a rejoinder is yet to be filed, the bench adjourned the matter to June 18.

The top court had earlier refused to grant interim bail to Punjab AAP MLA to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier dismissed his plea challenging his arrest, observing that there was no illegality.

In May last year, the CBI conducted raids on premises linked to Gajjan Majra in connection with an alleged bank fraud of Rs 40 crore.

In September 2022, the ED conducted raids on several premises linked to him as part of a money laundering probe linked to the alleged bank loan fraud. The ED team had seized Rs 32 lakh cash, some mobile phones and hard drives during the raids.