CBI gets Centre’s nod to prosecute Satyendar Jain
NEW DELHI: The Centre has allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute Delhi health and urban development minister Satyendar Kumar Jain in a case related to alleged irregularities in land deals, officials said on Thursday.
The Delhi government reacted strongly to the development with chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleging that Jain was being hounded by the central government because he was working for the regularisation of the city’s unauthorised colonies.
“The ministry of home affairs has granted sanction to prosecute Satyendar Kumar Jain, minister in government of NCT of Delhi, in a case registered by CBI in August 24, 2017, for acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income,” an official statement read.
CBI alleged that Jain pur-
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chased 200 bighas (80 acres) of agricultural land in Delhi in the names of companies controlled by him during the last five years and “laundered black money” to the tune of several crore rupees. The case was registered against Jain, his wife Poonam, and suspected associates Ajeet Prasad Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain and Ankush Jain. Four companies -- Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers, Managalyatan Projects and Indo Metal Impex Pvt Limited -- were also named in the FIR.
“The efforts of AAP government to regularise unauthorised colonies during its first tenure between December 2013 and February 2014 and present tenure is linked with the investment of agricultural land by Jain. The proposed regularisation ... will convert these agricultural lands into residential and commercial land which will provide huge return on investment by Jain,” the complaint against Jain reads.
Kejriwal hit out at the ruling BJP at the Centre, calling it an “enemy” of the people of Delhi.
“Satyendar Jain made a scheme to regularise unauthorised colonies. Centre could not pass the proposal but instead filed a case against him...,” Kejriwal tweeted on Thursday.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj hit out against the central government.
“It is laughable that Satyendar Jain in 2013 knew that he will contest elections in 2015 and become UD minister and convert his land in unauthorised colony into regularised land,” hesaid.