President grants prosecution sanction against AAP’s Satyendar Jain in ED case

Satyendar Jain was arrested by ED in May 2022 in connection with alleged hawala transactions linked to a 2017 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu has granted sanction to prosecute Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was fielded from the Shakurbasti seat in the assembly elections held earlier this month but lost to BJP’s Karnail Singh (Satyendar Jain X)

President Murmu’s nod comes days after the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) made the recommendation

The sanction has been requested under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), a provision related to the prosecution of judges and public servants.

Jain was arrested by ED in May 2022 in connection with alleged hawala transactions linked to a 2017 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case, which accused him of possessing disproportionate assets.

CBI filed a chargesheet against Jain in December 2018, alleging that he had amassed disproportionate assets amounting to ₹1.47 crore — about 217% more than his known sources of income between 2015 and 2017.

Jain, who held health and power portfolios in the Delhi government, is currently out on bail.

Jain has rejected the charges in the past. Former Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had earlier defended Jain, saying he was a “hardcore honest and patriot” person who was being framed in a “false case.”

According to ED, which has attached alleged proceeds of crime worth ₹4.6 crore in the case, four companies owned and controlled by Jain allegedly received accommodation entries (hawala) of ₹4.81 crore from shell (bogus) companies in exchange for cash sent through Kolkata-based entry operators during 2015-16..

“These funds were then utilised for direct purchase of agricultural land or for the repayment of loan taken for purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi,” the agency had said.