Delhi Ex-Minister Satyendar Jain Gets Bail In Money Laundering Case

Former Delhi minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendar Jain was granted bail on Friday in the money laundering case lodged against him.

The bail order, issued by Delhi's Rose Avenue Court, paves the way for Jain's release from jail. The development comes weeks after former AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail, after being arrested in connection to the liquor policy case.

Jain, 60, was the health minister of Delhi till he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022. He was granted an interim bail a year later, in May 2023, by the Supreme Court on medical grounds.

Jain returned behind the bars in March this year, after the apex court turned down his request for a regular bail.

Rose Avenue Court's special judge Vishal Gogne, who issued the bail order, said the accused is "suited for relief" in view of the delay in trial.

"Considering the delay in trial and long incarceration of 18 months, and the fact that the trial will take a long time to start, let alone conclude, the accused is favourably suited for the relief," news agency PTI quoted the judge as saying.

Notably, the ED case against Jain is based on an FIR registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2017, in connection to the alleged money laundering involving companies linked to him.

Jain is the third senior AAP leader to come out of prison in the last three months. Before Kejriwal's release in September, former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was granted bail in August. He was in prison for around 17 months in connection to the alleged scam involving the now-scrapped liquor policy of the Delhi government.