The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) answer to a petition filed by former Delhi minister Satyendar Kumar Jain contesting an order taking cognisance of a charge sheet against him and others in a money laundering case.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a notice to the ED on Jain’s petition, directing it to produce a status report within 15 days.

The court scheduled a follow-up hearing for August 22.

Jain has asked the trial court to overturn a July 29, 2022, judgment that took cognizance of the ED’s charge sheet in the money laundering case.

He has also contested the summons issued in the case, as well as the subsequent rulings remanding him in judicial custody, and has sought release from jail.

The ED rejected the plea on the basis of maintainability, stating that the trial court’s cognisance order was issued in July 2022, but the AAP leader is now challenging it.

The ED had filed a charge sheet against Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Ankush Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, and Sunil Jain.

The charge sheet was also filed against four companies: Akinchan Developers Private Limited, Paryas Infosolutions Private Limited, Manglayatan Developers Private Limited, and JJ Ideal Estate Private Limited.

The ED launched a money laundering inquiry on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of inquiry (CBI) on August 24, 2017, under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI stated that Satyendar Jain, while holding the post of a minister in the Delhi government, acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income from February 14, 2015 to May 31, 2017.