A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former minister Satyendar Jain in the money laundering case, citing delay in trial and his long incarceration. He was arrested in May 2022 in this case.
“Considering the delay in trial and long incarceration of 18 months, and the fact that trial will take long to start, let alone conclude, accused is favourably suited for the relief,” Special Judge Vishal Gogne said while granting bail.
The judge granted the relief on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of like amount.
Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 30, 2022, on charges of money laundering through four companies allegedly linked to him. The ED case was based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI’s FIR, filed in 2017, alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party leader had conducted money laundering operations through four companies reportedly connected to him.
Last year in May, Jain fainted inside the Tihar jail washroom, he was immediately admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in Delhi. The Tihar Jail administration had stated that Jain slipped and fell inside the bathroom in his ward and had suffered minor injuries.
The same year on May 26, the Supreme Court had granted an interim bail to Jain on medical grounds. Jain was granted bail for 6 weeks by the Apex Court. The top court, while ordering the bail, had said that Jain shall not meet and influence any witness related to the case against him.
Speaking to reporters, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia expressed his happiness over the release of the party leader and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party BJP should apologise to the people of Delhi because after Jain was sent to jail, the development work in the national capital pertaining to hospitals and mohalla clinics had been stalled.
“BJP sent me, Satyendar Jain and Arvind Kejriwal to jail, but they couldn’t find a single penny from our place. They levelled false allegations against us and their ED jailed us based on those allegations,” Sisodia said.
On his release, AAP leader Sanjay Singh welcomed the court order and said Jain was the leader from AAP who introduced Delhi to the model of the Mohalla clinic, free medicine, and various health schemes. Despite his contribution, he was kept in jail for 873 days and he has lost 36 kg weight.
The recent development occurred a month after AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar jail, having been granted bail by the Supreme Court in a corruption case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. Upon his release, he stepped down from the position of Delhi Chief Minister, and Atishi from AAP was appointed to succeed him.