New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): A court here on Friday allowed the bail plea filed of former Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case.

The Rouse Avenue Court granted bail to the AAP leader taking into account his prolonged incarceration and the delay in commencement of trial.

Earlier on March 18 this year, the Supreme Court had dismissed Jain’s regular bail petition and ordered him to forthwith surrender before the jail authorities.

Before that, the AAP leader remained out on interim medical bail for about 10 months. The apex court had initially granted Jain interim relief in May 2023 for six weeks but the same was extended from time to time.

The ED's case against Jain originates from an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under Sections 13(2) and 13(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, alleging he acquired disproportionate assets between 2015 and 2017.

Additionally, the ED alleges that companies beneficially owned and controlled by Jain received Rs 4.81 crore through accommodation entries from shell companies via a hawala route.

Recently, the Delhi High Court dismissed Satyendar Jain’s plea challenging the dismissal of his default bail request by the trial court.

In his plea, the former Delhi minister contended that the ED failed to complete its investigation within the statutory period and filed an incomplete prosecution complaint before the trial court in July 2022, in a bid to deny him default bail under Section 167 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

He argued that filing an incomplete charge sheet while the investigation was ongoing violates his fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, undermining his right to default bail as per Section 167 (2) CrPC.