Key decisions linked to the Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant tender case were taken in 2021, when Satyendar Jain was Delhi’s Water Minister and months before his arrest in May 2022, sources have told NDTV.
“The people of Delhi had already seen the reality of AAP. A proposal dated December 28 then led to a fresh estimate of Rs 1,546.32 crore for increasing the existing sewage treatment capacity from 215 MGD to 297 MGD, sources said. The proposal received in-principle approval from Jain a week later, on October 14. On December 28, a proposal by SC Vashishth, routed through Ajay Gupta and Udit Prakash Rai for approval, referred to the December meetings and led to preparation of the fresh Rs 1,546.32-crore estimate, according to sources. The source-based timeline, however, places the IFAS proposal, the in-principle approval, the meetings at which the TOR were finalised and the proposal leading to the Rs 1,546.32-crore estimate in October-December 2021. The IFAS proposal came on October 7, 2021, the in-principle approval followed on October 14, meetings at which the TOR were finalised were held on December 21 and 23, and the Rs 1,546.32-crore proposal followed on December 28, according to sources.
Virendra Sachdeva, former Delhi BJP President, also attacked AAP over the arrest, accusing the previous AAP government of manipulating tenders and taking commissions at the expense of public money, and said those responsible would have to answer for the alleged irregularities. Now they will have to answer for every act of corruption,” Sachdeva said, also targeting former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
