Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Mar 19: The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi Government has filed a corruption case against former Public Works Department (PWD) minister and senior AAP leader Satyendar Jain in connection with alleged irregularities in a Rs 571 crore CCTV installation project, an official confirmed on Wednesday.
Jain is accused of accepting a ?7 crore bribe to waive a ?16 crore liquidated damages penalty imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for delays in the project. The large-scale initiative, implemented during Jain’s tenure as PWD minister in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, involved installing 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras across all 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi.
According to ACB Joint Commissioner Madhur Verma, Jain arbitrarily waived the penalties levied on BEL after allegedly receiving a bribe. The ACB, after obtaining approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, registered an FIR on Tuesday. Multiple complaints had pointed to substandard execution of the project, with several cameras found to be non-functional at the time of handover.
The case has sparked a political storm, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dismissing the allegations as a "political witch-hunt" while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused Jain of blatant corruption. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that the AAP government attempted to cover up the scam for years.
The ACB’s investigation is based on a news report alleging that a ?7 crore bribe was arranged for Jain, who was the nodal officer for the CCTV project, in return for waiving BEL’s penalties. These fines were originally imposed in August 2019 due to severe delays in installation. During the verification process, a BEL officer provided a detailed complaint supporting these allegations, which also suggested that BEL was awarded an additional contract for 1.4 lakh more CCTV cameras despite its prior failures.
Investigators suspect that the bribe was funneled through contractors who had received additional orders. Payments were allegedly made by inflating vendor invoices, Verma stated.
The ACB has now begun examining key documents from both PWD and BEL. The case has been registered under Sections 7 and 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with criminal conspiracy. A full-scale probe has been launched to determine the extent of the alleged corruption and the involvement of other officials.
Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi lashed out at the BJP, accusing it of using investigative agencies for political vendettas. She cited official data claiming that out of 193 cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against politicians in the past decade, only two resulted in convictions.
Delhi BJP president Sachdeva countered these claims, alleging that the Kejriwal government deliberately delayed the FIR despite the ACB completing its probe in 2023. He claimed that Jain’s actions were part of a larger corruption cover-up orchestrated by AAP.
The controversy adds to Jain’s mounting legal troubles. On March 2, the CBI informed a special court that it had secured approval to prosecute him in a disproportionate assets case. Jain was also arrested by the ED in May 2022 on money laundering charges related to alleged hawala transactions, though he was granted bail in October 2024.
His political career has also taken a hit, with Jain losing his Shakur Basti seat in the recent Delhi Assembly elections to BJP’s Karnail Singh by nearly 21,000 votes. The BJP secured a landslide victory in Delhi, winning 48 out of 70 seats, while AAP was reduced to just 22.
As the investigation unfolds, the case is expected to further intensify the political battle between the BJP and AAP, with both parties trading allegations over corruption and misuse of power.