NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said that Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain was being targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party for regularising unauthorised colonies and insisted that he had not invested "even a rupee" in any company or land after 2013.
Earlier in the day, the Union Home Ministry granted sanction to prosecute Jain in a disproportionate assets case registered by the CBI in 2017.
"Satyendar Jain is being hounded for trying to regularise the unauthorised colonies in Delhi," the AAP said in a statement.
"We take immense pride that our government is working for people living in unauthorised colonies. This was our main election promise for 3/4th of the Delhi population which lives in unauthorised colonies. The Modi government is trying to stall regularisation of unauthorised colonies," it said.
Jain, who is also Delhi's Health Minister, has not invested even a rupee in any company or land after 2013. It is laughable that Satyendar Jain in 2013 knew that he will contest elections in 2015 and will become Urban Development Minister and will later convert his land in unauthorised colonies into regularised land, the AAP said.
Jain is accused of floating several shell companies in Delhi including Akichan Developers Private Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Private Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Private Ltd and Manglayatan Projects Private Ltd during 2009-10 and 2010-11 for alleged money laundering.
"These shell companies do not have any real business. Jain had laundered black money of Rs 16.39 crore during 2010-11 to 2015-16 through 54 shell companies of three hawala entry operators of Kolkata namely Jeevendra Mishra, Abhishek Chokhani and Rajendra Bansal," said an official in the Home Ministry.