Delhi Lt Governor Greenlights Probe Against Jailed AAP Leader In CCTV Corruption Case

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena approved the recommendation for a probe against jailed former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a graft case related to the installation of CCTVs in the city, Raj Niwas officials said today.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that the case against Mr Jain was part of the BJP's "relentless conspiracies" against it and the Delhi government. The BJP, on the other hand, said the sanction for an investigation "comes as no surprise" and it was expected long back.

In a statement, the AAP said, "The BJP is relentlessly engaging in sinister conspiracies against the Delhi government day and night to halt its works." It claimed that with "over 200 cases filed against AAP ministers and MLAs, and sending our top leadership, including Delhi Chief Minister (Arvind) Kejriwal to jail in just 10 years, this case is yet another step towards suppressing the AAP".

The BJP, however, described Mr Jain as a "master of corruption in the Delhi Cabinet".

Satyender Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May 2022 in connection with a money laundering case. Currently, he is in judicial custody.

According to Raj Niwas officials, it has been alleged in the present case that Mr Jain received Rs 7 crore as a bribe for waiving a penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on a company for a delay in the installation of CCTVs in 70 Assembly constituencies of Delhi.

VK Saxena agreed with the proposal of the Directorate of Vigilance to refer the matter under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to the Union Home Ministry for approval of the investigation against Mr Jain by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), they added.

Mr Jain was the Public Works Department minister and nodal authority of the project of installing 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in Delhi at the cost of Rs 571 crore, officials said.

The case against Mr Jain is based on a September 2019 complaint by an employee of a company responsible for installing CCTV cameras. He alleged that the company arranged the bribe money through its vendors, officials said.

The ACB also obtained information from secret sources that corroborated the complainant, they said, adding the ACB had recorded the statement of the complainant.

In its statement, the AAP claimed that despite a large number of corruption cases lodged against its leaders, not a single penny has been recovered by the probe agencies.

"Ever since the AAP came to power (in Delhi), the BJP and its Central government have tried everything possible to undermine and paralyse it.

"This includes enacting the GNCTD Act against the Supreme Court's verdict and disrupting public interest initiatives through bureaucracy by withholding payments for Mohalla Clinics and medicines for government hospitals," it charged.

The party said that this is the 201st case against AAP leaders and "like the previous 200 cases, the BJP and its Central government are trying to paralyse the Delhi government because the AAP is a staunchly honest party".

The BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said the sanction for investigation into "kickbacks received by Mr Jain from the CCTV installation project was expected long back".

He thanked the Lt Governor for sanctioning the probe and said, "Till the day of his arrest in 2022, Satyendra Jain was master of corruption in the Delhi Cabinet. Therefore, the sanction of investigation against him comes as no surprise. It's shocking to note that the Arvind Kejriwal government has indulged in corruption even in projects related to women and children's security, be it in CCTV installation on roads in Delhi or installation of panic buttons in public transport vehicles," Mr Sachdeva said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)