Satyendra Jain, the former Health Minister who has been in detention since 2022 in a money laundering case, breathed a sigh of relief on Monday as the Supreme Court extended his interim medical bail for five weeks.
Bail was extended by a panel of Justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi, who took into account Senior Advocate AM Singhvi’s contention that Jain had spinal surgery and would need six weeks to recover. “Jain underwent a major operation called a microdiscectomy and a partial laminectomy.” He can’t even roll onto his side. According to the literature, he will require six weeks to recover. “Your Lordships may take a report from the people who operated on him after that and list it accordingly,” Senior Advocate AM Singhvi told the bench. For the time being, however, the court denied the ED’s request for an independent review of his health, stating, “Now that he has undergone an operation, any independent evaluation will say he is not well.” If he has recovered after four weeks, an independent review will be useful. The ED’s ASG SV Raju maintained their stand, saying that they were not opposed to the extension of bail but wanted to undertake a independent evaluation.
“Our independent evaluation will most likely conclude that he does not require hospitalisation or bed rest,” Raju added. Notably, the Supreme Court granted Jain temporary bail for six weeks, which was to last till July 11.
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