MHA seeks President’s approval for prosecution of former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain

The Union Home Ministry has requested the President for granting sanction to prosecute AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money-laundering case being investigated by the ED, sources said on Friday.

The sanction against the 60-year-old politician has been sought under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, they said.

The ministry requested the sanction on the basis of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation and the presence of “adequate proof”, they added.

The federal agency booked Jain in a money-laundering case linked to alleged hawala dealings and arrested him in May 2022.

He is currently out on bail and has been charge-sheeted by the ED.

The money-laundering case stems from an August 2017 FIR filed against Jain and others by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets.

The CBI filed a chargesheet in December 2018, stating that the alleged disproportionate assets were to the tune of Rs 1.47 crore, about 217 per cent more than Jain’s known sources of income during 2015-17.

Jain was also accused of running a high-profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and reportedly demanding Rs 10 crore as "protection money" from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, so as to enable him to "live peacefully and comfortably in jail". —with PTI