AAP leader Satyendar Jain booked in CCTV ‘graft’ case

Jain has been booked for allegedly waiving a ₹16 crore penalty imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in exchange for an alleged bribe of ₹7 crore.

The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Wednesday booked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former PWD minister Satyendar Jain for allegedly waiving a ₹16 crore penalty imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in exchange for an alleged bribe of ₹7 crore.

Satyendar Jain (PTI)

The penalty on BEL was for delays in installing 140,000 CCTV cameras in Delhi in 2018-19.

A first information report (FIR) was registered two days ago under corruption and criminal conspiracy charges in the ₹571-crore CCTV project, following sanction from the Union home ministry to prosecute Jain under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PoC Act) last week.

Jain has been named in the FIR, along with unidentified officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) and BEL, joint commissioner of police (ACB) Madhur Verma said.

In July last year, lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena had approved the proposal of the Directorate of Vigilance (DoV) to refer the matter under the PoC Act to the MHA, for approving investigation against Jain by the ACB in the alleged corruption in the CCTV project.

Verma said the allegations first emerged in a news report claiming that an alleged ₹7 crore bribe was arranged for Jain, the nodal officer for the CCTV project, to waive BEL’s penalty.

The company had secured the contract in 2018 but missed its mid-2019 completion deadline, prompting the Delhi government to impose the ₹16 crore fine on the company and its contractors.

During the investigation, ACB found a whistleblower—an officer from BEL familiar with the project—who corroborated the allegations and filed a complaint.

“The officer supported the allegations and filed a detailed complaint. The complaint stated that not only was the ₹16 crore penalty waived, but BEL and its contractors were given repeated orders for an additional 140,000 cameras, doubling the project’s scope. The ₹7 crore bribe was allegedly routed through vendors by inflating order values,” Verma said.

Verma added that several complaints had surfaced about the project’s poor execution, with many cameras reportedly dysfunctional even at the time of handover to PWD. Officials are now scrutinising documents from both PWD and BEL.

“Based on our findings and prior approval from the home ministry, a case has been registered under Section 7/13(1) of the PoC Act and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. The investigation aims to uncover the full conspiracy and establish the role of the former minister and officials,” Verma said.

The FIR sparked a political row, with both the ruling BJP and opposition AAP targeting each other.

AAP leaders denied any wrongdoing by Jain, and said the case is an attempt to malign Jain.

It is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the BJP. They have conducted numerous investigations against us, yet they have never been able to present even a single penny’s worth of evidence. And they never will — because there has been no scam at all,” said Kakkar. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the BJP is again “fabricating false case” against Jain. “Modi government is constantly harassing AAP, and this is yet another attempt in that direction,” said Singh.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said the ACB had completed its investigation in 2023, but an FIR was not being registered due to “cover-ups” by the Kejriwal government. “It is just the beginning, and many more cases will come to light that the Arvind Kejriwal government had either suppressed or deliberately delayed investigations into,” said Sachdeva.