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Smriti Irani asks '11th' question on Satyendar Jain arrest: 'Saga of lies…'
Satyendar Jain: Satyendar Jain's home was searched on Monday by the Enforcement Directorate.
Union minister Smriti Irani on Sunday night slammed the Aam Aadmi Party yet again over the arrest of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain as she said that the “saga of lies continues”. Days after asking 10 questions to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has backed his cabinet and party colleague, the BJP leader posed an 11th question to the AAP chief.
Her comments came after the AAP tweeted a clip of party leader Sanjay Singh and wrote: “The ED has said in the High Court that there is no FIR or complaint against @SatyendarJain ji.@smritiirani, apologise to Satyendra Jain ji and his family.”
On this, Irani came up with a counterattack: “Delhi HC order dated 21.8.19 confirmed that Satyendra Jain laundered ₹16.39 Cr through hawala operators with the help of his 4 shell companies. This new claim of Mr. Jain’s innocence is as fictitious as the earlier claim of CBI closure report in DA case. Please don’t lie any more, AAP.”
On Saturday, the Delhi High Court had accepted the ED’s contention that since there is no FIR or prosecution complaint by the agency against Jain, and that he has been called only for questioning, the AAP leader cannot claim the right to have the presence of his lawyers. “Since there is no apprehension [of threat or coercion] raised in the present matter, hence as a matter of right such direction ought not to have been given in the recording of statement,” the judge said in its six-page order.
The 57-year-old AAP leader was arrested on May 30 by the Enforcement Directorate.
"Saga of AAP’s lies continues! Delhi HC has accepted ED’s argument that Satyendra Jain who is accused of money laundering under PMLA must be denied his lawyer’s presence during custodial interrogation. As Kejriwal Ji continues to duck 10 pointed questions, here’s 1 more question,” Smriti Irani tweeted Sunday night.
"Would Kejriwal Ji answer if it is true that ED has started its investigation under PML Act as a sequel to 24.08.17 CBI FIR & 03.12.18 charge sheet filed by the CBI which has found evidence of disproportionate assets against Satyendra Jain under Prevention of Corruption Act? (Sic)," she asked in another post. And then she added, "Would Kejriwal Ji answer if it is true that ED has started its investigation under PML Act as a sequel to 24.08.17 CBI FIR & 03.12.18 charge sheet filed by the CBI which has found evidence of disproportionate assets against Satyendra Jain under Prevention of Corruption Act?
Her barrage of tweets came after the 46-year-old leader asked 10 questions to Kejriwal.
"Arvind Kejriwal presumed the role of a judge and gave him a clean chit. I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal a few questions. My first question is, can Kejriwal deny that Satyendar Jain laundered ₹16.39 crore using 56 shell companies with the support of hawala operators in Kolkata from 2010-11 to 2015-16?" "Is it true that the principal commissioner of income tax has held that the unaccounted income of ₹16.39 crore was not of Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, but that Satyendar Jain was the real owner of the income," she asked in her series of questions to the Delhi CM.
These were just two of the 10 questions she asked during the presser.
Arvind Kejriwal last week had said he suspects Manish Sisodia would be the next AAP leader to be arrested. "Please arrest us all at one go," he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video address. Irani, however, had dismissed it as a "conspiracy theory".
Jain's arrest is the latest flashpoint in the political row between the BJP and the AAP.
