NEW DELHI: A day after Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, former Union minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said the Prevention of Money Laundering Act under sections of which he has been taken into custody was a "weapon that often serves not legal but political ends".
Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in a money laundering case, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) calling it a political move ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.
He was taken into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a few hours of questioning, ED officials said.
Reacting to the development, Sibal said in a tweet, "Satyendar Jain, Arrested under PMLA for alleged money laundering. PMLA's misuse rampant. A weapon that often serves not legal but political ends."
Sibal, who resigned from the Congress recently, filed his nomination as a Samajwadi Party-backed Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh last week.
He had said his effort would be to see all opposition parties come together on a common platform to fight the BJP in 2024.
Meanwhile, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday broke his silence on the arrest of Jain, saying the case is "completely fake and politically motivated".
Kejriwal asserted that the AAP is an honest political party and that he himself would have taken action against Jain if there were even one per cent substance in the case.
"I have studied the case against Jain. It is completely fake and motivated by political reasons. We have faith in the judiciary. Jain is following the path of truth, and he will come out clean," the chief minister told reporters during an inspection of a road development programme of his government.
In January, ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, Kejriwal had claimed he had learnt from sources that Jain could be arrested by the ED.