Kejriwal hails jailed Satyendar Jain as hero for all Dilliwallas

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday hailed AAP leader Satyendar Jain as a hero for Delhiites, hours after the Supreme Court rejected the former minister's plea for regular bail in a money-laundering case.

The AAP said it "respectfully disagrees" with the top court's decision but asserted, "We have full faith in our justice system and are sure that eventually justice will be done."

"His health has been very precarious and he has undergone major spine surgeries from which he still has to recover. He is still suffering from severe pain, numbness, tenderness and imbalance. As per the last diagnosis, the degree of pain suffered by him is seven out 10," the party said in a statement.

Due to the imbalance occurring from underlying medical conditions, he also suffered a fall and a fracture, it added.

Jain returned to Tihar jail late on Monday.

In a post on X, Kejriwal said, "He (Jain) is a hero for all Dilliwallas. He made arrangements for providing 24x7 electricity, free electricity, good government hospitals and mohalla clinics. Feel extremely sad for him and his family. God bless him."

Jain held the power and the health portfolios in the Kejriwal government. He tendered his resignation from the Cabinet in February last year.

The AAP said it is "utterly shameful" that the "ED-CBI, on the directions of the BJP, have put Jain in jail for almost two years in a completely fake and fabricated case".

There was no immediate reaction from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the AAP's claims.

"The entire case against Jain is based on statements of some hawala operators who layered some money to buy shareholding in three companies in which his wife had negligible shareholding," the AAP said.

"The hawala operators have provided no proof of Jain's involvement and he has denied any knowledge of these individuals. Instead of putting those hawala operators behind bars, they have been left scot-free but the ED has arrested Jain. Neither he nor his family received any money whatsoever from these three companies," it claimed.

The party also claimed that the ED's allegations regarding Jain's control of those companies or involvement in their affairs is "completely without any substance".

"Jain and his family have no shareholding, directorship and land purchase of these companies. Neither he nor his family were undersigned or authorised signatory in the documents on which the ED has filed this case," the AAP said.

Jain is undergoing physiotherapy and had requested the court to delay the surrender.

He was hospitalised a few months ago and shifted to an intensive care unit after collapsing in the bathroom of Tihar jail, the party said.

The Supreme Court court on January 17 reserved its verdict on Jain's plea for regular bail in the case. It granted the former minister interim bail on May 26, 2023, on medical grounds and it was extended from time to time.

Jain had moved the apex court after the Delhi High Court on April 6, 2023, dismissed his plea for regular bail in the case.

The ED arrested the AAP leader on May 30, 2022, on the charge of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him.

It had arrested Jain on the basis of a CBI FIR registered against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.