More trouble seems mounting on the AAP as the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government booked former deputy chief minister Manish SIsodia and former PWD minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday in the alleged Rs 2,000 crore classroom construction scam.
The case pertains to construction of 12,748 classrooms across the national capital during the tenure of the AAP.
The FIR has been registered by the ACB under Section 13 (1) of Prevention of Corruption (POC) Act after receiving complaints from Harish Khurana, Kapil Mishra, and Neelkanth bakshi. The complainants alleged that the construction of the 12,748 school classrooms at a cost of 2,892 crore, which comes to approximately Rs 24.86 lakh per classroom, whereas such rooms in Delhi could be constructed for Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, it was alleged that the majority of the 34 contractors who were awarded the project were associated with the AAP.
The agency, during its inquiry, observed that the tenders were floated and contracts were awarded for Rs 860.63 crore and subsequently the value escalated by 17 percent to 90 per cent due to the specifications.
It added that the fresh value reached to Rs 326.25 crore, of which Rs 205.45 crore were added after the revised specifications. However, no fresh tenders were invited in contravention of the Central Vigilance Commission’s guidelines.
Moreover, work worth Rs 42.5 crore was executed in five schools without proper tenders using existing contracts.
The ACB, based on its findings, sought approval from a competent authority and registered a case against Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain under the POC Act only after the receipt of permission.
The fresh case comes as an additional trouble to Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain who are already booked by the ACB in a corruption case in the Rs 571-crore CCTV project.