Money laundering case: President Murmu grants sanction to ED to prosecute AAP leader Satyendar Jain | India News
NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday granted sanction to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case, reported news agency PTI citing sources.
Earlier last year in October, a city court granted bail to the former Delhi minister citing delays in the trial and his prolonged incarceration of 18 months.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne said, “Considering the delay in trial and long incarceration of 18 months, and the fact that the trial will take long to start, let alone conclude, the accused is favourably suited for the relief,” said the court special judge Vishal Gogne.
The investigative agency arrested Jain in May 2022 in connection with the money-laundering case involving alleged hawala transactions. At the time of his ED detention, Jain was responsible for health, power and several other portfolios in the Delhi governement.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, citing an ED investigation and sufficient evidence, sought presidential sanction to prosecute 60-year-old former Delhi health minister under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, sources told PTI.
The prosecution of public servants and judges falls under Section 218 of the BNSS, which details the process for initiating legal proceedings against officials for alleged misconduct during their tenure.
Sources indicate that the ED plans to submit a new supplementary charge sheet to inform the court about the President’s approval for prosecution sanction.
According to a TOI report, ED had already questioned Jain, his close associates and family members on the details of a money trail seeking to establish the source of around Rs 27.7 crore used by five shell companies — Prayas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, JJ Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd, Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd and Mangalyatan Projects Pvt Ltd — to purchase the 123 acres from 14 people.
Jain’s chartered accountant JP Mohta and three Kolkata based hawala operators — Jivendra Mishra, Abhishek Chokhani and Rajendra Bansal — in their recorded statements claimed that “all the (five) shell companies incorporated by Jain were actually being controlled by him through his wife, relatives and other close associates. All of them corroborated the fact that cash was paid to the hawala dealers and ‘entries’ (unsecured loans) were received in shell companies”.
ED had claimed that these five shell companies spent Rs 27.69 crore to acquire the land parcels. Jain was a minister in the AAP govt in Delhi from December 28, 2013 to February 14, 2014 and again from February 2015 till much after his arrest in 2022.
