New Delhi, February 15: AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the government's request for the president's approval to prosecute party leader Satyendar Jain was a "political conspiracy" aimed at "crippling" the Aam Aadmi Party. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the BJP-led central government was using investigative agencies to target the AAP, according to a party statement.

The Union Home Ministry has requested the president for a grant of sanction to prosecute former Delhi minister Jain in a money-laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sources said on Friday. Reacting to the development, AAP leader Singh said, "This proves that Satyendar Jain's arrest was illegal, malicious, and orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. After keeping him in jail for 23 months without justification, they are now seeking prosecution sanction only after our lawyers objected in court." Money Laundering Case: MHA Requests President Droupadi Murmu for Prosecution Sanction Against AAP Leader Satyendar Jain.

"Nothing was recovered from Jain's home. He was granted bail, yet he was jailed for nearly two years. This is exactly what they did with Arvind Kejriwal. These arrests were never about justice. They were solely to crush AAP," he added. Singh demanded that Prime Minister Modi and the ED apologise to the nation, to Jain's family, and to the people of Delhi. "They arrested a minister and even a chief minister without prior sanction, and now, even the home ministry and the Modi government are being forced to acknowledge their blunder," he said.

The sanction against the 60-year-old politician has been sought under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, sources said. The Home Ministry requested the sanction from the president of India based on an ED investigation and the presence of "adequate proof", they said. Jain, who was arrested in May 2022, was charge-sheeted by the ED over alleged hawala transactions linked to a 2017 CBI FIR accusing him of possessing disproportionate assets.

The CBI's 2018 chargesheet claimed Jain's assets were 217 per cent more than his known income between 2015 and 2017. With party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and other senior leaders under the ED's scrutiny, AAP sees the federal agency's actions as an attempt to weaken the party, which has just lost power in Delhi to the BJP. The AAP, which ruled the national capital for over 10 years, was defeated by the BJP in the recently concluded 70-member Delhi Assembly elections. AAP Leadership Will Take a Call: Sanjay Singh on Continuing in INDIA Bloc.

The BJP secured 48 seats, while AAP won 22. The BJP is yet to announce its chief minister and cabinet after the results were declared on February 8, with polling held on February 5.

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