Delhi HC denies bail to AAP leader Satyendar Jain in money laundering case

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court dismissed the bail plea of jailed former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma rejected the bail plea of Satyendar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain. While dismissing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's bail plea, the High Court said that he is an influential person and has the potential of tampering with evidence, news agency ANI reported.

Jain, who was arrested on May 30 last year by the agency, had approached the High Court after the trial court dismissed his bail petition in November last year. Jain is accused of having laundered money through four companies allegedly linked to him.

In his bail plea in Delhi High Court, Jain stated that the trial court Judge and ED has gravely misread and misapplied the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by identifying proceeds of crime solely on the basis of accommodations entries. That accommodation entries cannot itself lead to a punishable offence under PMLA.

The enforcement agency has alleged that the companies which were "beneficially owned and controlled" by Satyendar Jain had received accommodation entries amounting to Rs 4.81 crore from the shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through a hawala route.

The ED case is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complaint registered on the allegation that Satyendar Jain had acquired movable properties in the name of various persons from February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017, which he could not satisfactorily account for.

The verdict comes at a time when AAP's Manish Sisodia is also in custody in connection the now-withdrawn Delhi liquor sales policy introduced in 2021.

Following Sisodia's arrest, both Satyendar Jain and Sisodia resigned as a cabinet minister of the Delhi government.

(With ANI inputs)

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