Delhi HC again denies bail to former AAP minister in money laundering case

New Delhi (India), April 6, 2023: The Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail plea of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Satyendar Jain, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. Jain was arrested on May 30 of last year and is accused of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him.

The court, while dismissing the bail plea, stated that Jain is an influential person who may tamper with evidence and that there was no infirmity in last year’s trial court order denying bail to the AAP leader. The enforcement agency has alleged that the companies, which were “beneficially owned and controlled” by Jain, laundered 4.81 crore from shell companies to Kolkata-based entry operators through a hawala route.

Jain had submitted that he had cooperated with the Enforcement Directorate in the investigation and that the trial court and ED had gravely misread and misapplied the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. However, the high court said that the court has to see the prima facie case and that the broad probabilities indicate that the companies associated with Jain are controlled and managed by him.

Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case based on a complaint filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2017. The CBI complaint alleges that Jain had acquired movable properties in the names of various persons from February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017, which he could not satisfactorily account for.