The Union Home Ministry has asked for the President’s approval to prosecute AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money-laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sources reported on Friday. The request for sanction, made under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, is based on the ED’s investigation and what they say is “adequate proof.”
Jain, who held portfolios such as health and power before his arrest in May 2022, is currently out on bail and has been charge-sheeted by the ED. The case relates to hawala dealings and follows an August 2017 FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), accusing Jain of possessing disproportionate assets. The CBI’s chargesheet, filed in December 2018, claimed Jain’s assets amounted to Rs 1.47 crore, 217% more than his known income from 2015-2017.
The ED’s investigation revealed that Jain, while serving as a public servant in 2015-16, used four companies he controlled to receive Rs 4.81 crore through hawala transactions with shell companies, which were then used to purchase agricultural land around Delhi or to repay loans for such purchases.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has defended Jain, calling him a “hardcore honest and patriotic” person who is being framed in a “false case.”
(With PTI Inputs)