Delhi: Case Against Satyender Jain Fake, Politically Motivated, Says Kejriwal After Minister’s Arrest

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday broke his silence on the arrest of his minister Satyendar Jain by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), saying the case is "completely fake and politically motivated".

Kejrwal asserted that his government and AAP are "hardcore honest".

"I have studied the case against Jain. It is completely fake and motivated by political reasons and he has been deliberately framed.

"We have faith in the judiciary. Jain will come out clean and the fake case will not sustain," the chief minister told reporters during an inspection of a road development programme of his government.

Jain, who holds various portfolios including health, home and power in the Kejriwal government in Delhi, was arrested by ED in a case of money laundering on Monday.

"They will say anything. If there were even one per cent substance in it it, I would have taken action," Kejriwal said when asked about the opposition Congress and BJP demand to remove Jain.

Delhi units of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have welcomed Jain's arrest in the case. The BJP has demanded that Kejriwal should remove Jain from his Cabinet.

In January, ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, Kejriwal claimed he had learnt from sources that Jain could be arrested by the ED.

Kejriwal said the AAP has taken notice of complaints of corruption and removed ministers in the past without waiting for any agency to act first. However, many actions by the agencies were "politically motivated".

"You saw that in Punjab, there was an audio of a minister, nobody knew about it, neither any agency nor opposition parties knew it, we could have suppressed it, but we ourself took action and got him arrested.

"Five years ago, recording of one of my ministers came to me. I removed him from the ministry (department) and handed him over to the CBI," Kejriwal said.

In 2015, Kejriwal had announced the sacking of his food department minister Asim Ahmed Khan, who was facing charges of corruption.

Kejriwal said Jain was following the path of truth. "God is with us," he said, and hoped the minister would walk out free and the judiciary will do justice to him.

Immediately after the arrest of Jain on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh had lashed at the BJP, but Kejriwal did not react to the development.

Sisodia had claimed that Jain was arrested by the ED in a "fake" case because he was made in-charge of the AAP in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP was afraid of losing the elections.

Singh had said that Jain's arrest was aimed at AAP before the polls.