New Delhi: The Delhi high court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain – arrested in a money laundering case – should be declared as a person with an unsound mind and thereby disqualified from being an MLA and minister.Jain was arrested on May 30 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is presently in judicial custody.A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the court cannot exercise writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the constitution to declare Jain as a person with an unsound man.The court was dealing with a petition filed by Ashish Kumar Srivastava, who claimed in his plea that Jain has declared that he “lost his memory” before the ED and the trial court was also informed the same. Therefore cannot be permitted to continue as a lawmaker.He asserted that in light of Article 191 (1)(b) of the Constitution, which mandates that an MLA has to be disqualified if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court, Jain cannot continue holding the important portfolio of a Delhi cabinet minister and enjoying the post of an MLA.The bench noted that the MLA is facing prosecution for various offences and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) – which deals with investigation, inquiry and trial – caters to all contingencies and it is for the prosecution or court to take appropriate steps in accordance with the law.“It is true that cases have been registered against respondent No.5 (Jain) and respondent No.5 is facing prosecution for various offences under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act as well as Prevention of Money Laundering Act. However, the fact remains that the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is a complete code in itself which provides a mechanism in respect of investigation, inquiry and trial. The Code of Criminal Procedure caters to all contingencies and it is for the prosecution/court to take appropriate steps in accordance with law,” the court said in its order dated August 16.The plea, filed through lawyer Rudra Vikram Singh, claimed that the news of losing the memory is covered by all media sources and is very much in the public domain.“Continuing an unsound person with so many important portfolios of the Government is cheating the voters of Delhi, who have elected a person with clean image and good mental health. Respondent No 5 (Jain) is holding an important portfolio in Government and because of his mental illness/unsound mind/memory loss the public of the NCT of Delhi will suffer a lot,” the petition said.Last month, the high court dismissed a plea to suspend Jain from the cabinet following his arrest in the money laundering case, saying it is for the chief minister to consider whether a person with a criminal background should be allowed to continue as a minister or not.(With PTI inputs)