For Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain, In Jail Since June, Setback In Court

New Delhi:

The bail plea of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendra Jain was rejected by a Delhi court today in an alleged money laundering case. 

Besides Mr Jain’s plea, the bail applications of two co-accused in the case – Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain – were also dismissed by the court. 

The 58-year-old Delhi minister was arrested on May 30 by the Enforcement Directorate. The probe agency had initiated the money-laundering investigation in the case on the basis of a First Information Report or FIR registered by the CBI on August 24, 2017.
  
Opposing the bail petition of Mr Jain, the ED had told the court that Satyender Jain misled the agency and was non-cooperative.

Earlier this week, the Superintendent of Delhi’s Tihar Jail – where Mr Jain has been locked up – was suspended for alleged VIP treatment to the minister.

The action was taken on the recommendation of an inquiry committee constituted by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena after jailed conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar accused the Superintendent of jail, Ajit Kumar, of extending undue favours to the Delhi minister. 

The ED had also submitted CCTV footage in the court alleging that Mr Jain is living a luxurious lifestyle in jail and influencing the investigation by regularly meeting the co-accused in the case. The probe agency further alleged that Satyendar Jain’s wife Poonam Jain comes to meet him often in the cell, which is against the jail manual.
   
Sukesh Chandrasekhar had earlier alleged that he was forced to pay Rs 10 crore as “protection money” to Satyendar Jain through Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel, a stunning claim that was trashed by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. Mr Goel was then transferred from the Tihar Jail.

In a letter to the Lieutenant Governor, Sukesh Chandrasekhar also claimed he had paid “more than 50 crores” to AAP for an important post in the party in the south and a Rajya Sabha seat.

This is the latest bombshell in the AAP versus BJP fight that has escalated in the run-up to polls due in Gujarat in weeks.

Sukesh Chandrasekhar has been in jail since 2017 over charges of extorting money from high-profile personalities, including industrialists and celebrities.