Govt okays prosecution of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain for graft: Officials

The Union home ministry has given sanction to prosecute Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain in a case of acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, officials said.

A case under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code was registered against Jain, a businessman and Aam Aadmi Party leader, and five others by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 24, 2017.

The CBI has claimed that Jain allegedly purchased 200 bighas of agricultural land in the names of companies controlled by him in Delhi during last five years and “laundered black money” to the tune of several crore of rupees.

On being prosecuted by the Income Tax Department, Jain surrendered black money amounting to Rs.16.39 crores, officials said.

Proceedings under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, 1988 were conducted against Jain and his shell companies and the land and shares of these companies were provisionally attached on May 24, 2017. Jain’s appeal was dismissed by May 22, 2018 and the property confiscated, according to a statement.

Since Jain had declared unaccounted income of Rs 16.39 crore under the Income Disclosure Scheme and paid tax on this amount, separate proceedings under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act were initiated to ascertain if he money paid as tax actually belonged to Jain. These proceedings are presently pending before the Income Tax Department.

The re-assessment proceedings in above referred to cases have detected hawala transactions and instances of unaccounted cash payments in purchase of land, the statement said.

The agencies have also alleged that the efforts of the AAP government to regularize unauthorized colonies during its first tenure (December 2013-February 2014) and present tenure is linked with Jain’s investment in agricultural land, as the proposed measure will convert these agricultural lands into residential and commercial land and provide huge returns on Jain’s investment.