Procurement of 1,000 Low-floor DTC Buses is Latest in AAP’s String of Corruption Cases

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 11^th September. The AAP is accumulating a growing number of corruption cases with each passing day. It can’t even get its point across in one case, and another one is on the way.

As the plaintiff in a series of corruption cases, the AAP has been drawn into another case involving the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation.

According to official sources, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved a proposal to forward a complaint to the CBI to investigate alleged corruption in the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

Previously, a complaint sent to Saxena in June 2022 claimed that the Minister of Transport’s appointment as chairman of the committee for tendering and procurement of buses by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) was done in a “premeditated manner.” It also claimed that the selection of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) as bid management consultant for this tender was done to facilitate wrongdoing.

The Historical Context

On July 22, the complaint was forwarded to the chief secretary, who requested comments and recommendations from the Delhi government’s departments. According to sources, the L-G has now forwarded the complaint to the CBI after the chief secretary’s report in August pointed out certain “irregularities,” and the CBI is already conducting a preliminary investigation into the matter.

The Center had given the CBI permission to investigate an alleged scam in the procurement of 1,000 buses by the Delhi Transport Department in 2021.

Saxena has agreed to combine the current complaint with the one that is already being investigated by the central probe agency.

The tender for bus purchase was cancelled as a result of the complaint in 2021. AAP Government’s Reaction

The Delhi government has responded by claiming that the Lieutenant Governor’s decision was politically motivated.

It said, in reference to allegations that Saxena abused his position to award a contract to his daughter, “Buses were never purchased, and tenders were never awarded. A more educated L-G is required in Delhi. This man has no idea what he’s getting himself into. L-G is facing numerous serious corruption allegations. He is making such inquiries to divert attention. So far, no results have been obtained from any inquiries.”

Recent Incidents

According to sources in the L-G office, L-G VK Saxena has asked the chief secretary of the Delhi government for “necessary action” on a complaint accusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of “tax evasion” through “undervaluation” of three properties sold in Haryana.

Here are some prominent AAP leaders who have been scrutinized by central agencies:

Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been charged in a number of cases since his party stormed to power in the national capital.

Kejriwal was one of the defendants in an assault case involving then-chief secretary Anshu Prakash in 2018. In the case, Sisodia and other AAP leaders were also charged. A trial court, however, had discharged Kejriwal and Sisodia, who were later granted bail along with nine other MLAs in October 2018.

In December 2015, just a few months after the AAP took power in Delhi, the CBI raided Kejriwal’s office in connection with an investigation into his then-principal secretary Rajendra Kumar. Later, in July 2016, the central agency raided several locations associated with Kumar in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and arrested him on suspicion of providing undue favors to a firm.

Vinay Bansal, the Delhi Chief Minister’s nephew, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch in 2018 in connection with an alleged scam in the Public Works Department. Bansal allegedly owned a 50% stake in a company that was accused of financial irregularities while constructing a drainage system in Delhi.

Manish Sisodia: The recent CBI raid on the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister is not his first run-in with the central agency.

The CBI recorded Sisodia’s statement in June 2017 at his residence on Delhi’s Mathura Road regarding alleged irregularities in an AAP campaign called ‘Talk to AK (Arvind Kejriwal),’ which was held months before the Assembly elections in Goa and Punjab.

The program’s premise was that Kejriwal would answer questions about various issues in Delhi, such as electricity, water supply, education, and so on. However, the Delhi CM was chastised for spending the majority of his time answering questions about the states going to the polls rather than the capital’s issues. There were also allegations of alleged financial irregularities in the campaign.

Satyendar Jain: Earlier, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been detained in connection with a money laundering investigation.

Jain was arrested in May 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had charged him with alleged hawala transactions through five shell companies he and his family controlled.

The ED claimed that during the fiscal year 2015-16, Jain’s companies received accommodation entries worth nearly Rs 4.81 crore from shell companies in exchange for cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators via the “hawala route.”