Excise policy case: President Draupadi Murmu grants sanction to ED to prosecute AAP leader Satyendar Jain

President Draupadi Murmu on Tuesday gave her nod to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to prosecute Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi minister Satyendra Jain, in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

This development comes a week after the Ministry of Home Affairs granted a sanction to ED to prosecute the AAP leader. MHA had also requested the President to give a green light to the ED prosecution.

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought AAP leader Satyendar Jain's response to a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) requesting to defer arguments on framing charges in the money laundering case against him.


Justice Vikas Mahajan issued a notice to Jain regarding the application filed by the ED in connection with the ongoing petition by the AAP leader.

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on March 3.

Satyendra Jain's petition

In the main petition, Jain had requested the deferral of arguments on charges, citing that the investigation is still incomplete. He argued that it would be in the interest of justice for the charge arguments to be heard only after the investigation concludes.

In its application, the ED asked the court to instruct the special court to delay the hearing on charges until the supplementary prosecution complaint (chargesheet) is filed.

"To a limited extent I am agreeable to what the petitioner (Jain) is saying that till the time we file the supplementary prosecution complaint, defer the hearing on charges. No prejudice will be caused to the petitioner because that was also his prayer in the main petition," the ED's counsel told the court.

The ED's counsel also pointed out that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a supplementary chargesheet in the scheduled offence before the trial court on January 3, expanding the amount of disproportionate assets from Rs 1.47 crore to Rs 3.95 crore.

He further argued that deferring the hearing was essential to allow the ED to file its own supplementary chargesheet in light of developments in the CBI case.

The high court had previously sought the ED’s response on Jain’s petition, in which he requested that the arguments on framing charges in the money laundering case be postponed until his plea is resolved.

What is the case against Satyendra Jain?

Jain, who was arrested by the ED on May 30, 2022, and granted bail by the trial court on October 18, 2024, faces accusations of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him.

The former Delhi health minister has challenged the trial court’s September 4, 2024 order, which dismissed his plea to defer the arguments on the framing of charges.

In his plea, Jain stated that since the investigation is ongoing, it would serve the interest of justice for the arguments on charges to be heard only once the probe is complete.

"If the investigating agency is in possession of material which may exculpate the accused in any manner, the court is bound to consider such material at the time of forming a prima facie view," Jain said in his plea.

The ED had arrested Jain in connection with the money laundering case based on a CBI FIR filed against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Jain was granted regular bail by a trial court in the CBI case on September 6, 2019.

In 2022, the trial court took cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the ED against Jain, his wife, and eight others, including four companies, in connection with the money laundering case.