High court orders CAG audit in Delhi Jal Board’s 2018-21 books

BJP leader Harish Khurana has filed a petition alleging that DJB was not maintaining its accounts properly

The Delhi high court on Tuesday ordered the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to expeditiously audit the annual accounts of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for the period between 2018-19 and 2020-21.

The court’s direction comes months after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in December 2023 ordered a CAG audit of DJB accounts since 2008-09, amid allegations of misappropriation of funds by the BJP (HT Archive)

A bench led by acting chief justice Manmohan disposed of a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harish Khurana, alleging that DJB was not maintaining its accounts properly, on being informed that CAG had received the water utility’s annual statement of accounts between the aforementioned period.

“In view of the aforesaid, CAG is directed to audit the accounts of 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 of DJB as expeditiously as possible in accordance with law,” the bench, also comprising justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, said in the order.

The court’s direction comes months after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in December 2023 ordered a CAG audit of DJB accounts since 2008-09, amid allegations of misappropriation of funds by the BJP.

“Things will become clearer now. ...If someone has committed irregularities, they should be punished. If no irregularities have been committed, then those who levelled baseless allegations will get to know,” Kejriwal had said, while announcing the CAG audit.

Khurana, in his petition filed in August 2021, had sought directions to CAG to audit DJB’s accounts and had also demanded proper accounts and other relevant records, and sought preparations of an annual statement of the water utility’s profit and loss with balance sheets from 2015 onwards, as prescribed under law.

The plea said that since the authorities have failed to perform the functions laid down under law, the petitioner was approaching the court.

“It is mandatory to maintain financial accounts and conduct an annual audit of the accounts, in order to ascertain effective functioning of the state and local bodies,” read the plea.

Responding to the plea, DJB in an October 2021 affidavit stated that Khurana’s petition was “politically motivated” and “without any research”, adding that the water utility was making every effort to ensure due preparation and audit of all final statements and balance sheets in the interest of transparency and compliance with law.

Further, the water utility had said that all its accounts are being maintained presently on a double-entry system of book-keeping, and all accounts are regularly maintained in accordance with the provisions of the Delhi Water Board Act, and other relevant laws.

Court extends ED custody of 2 held for irregularities

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of retired DJB chief engineer Jagdish Arora and contractor Anil Agarwal by five days in a money laundering case registered in connection with alleged irregularities in tendering contracts of the water utility.

ED initiated its probe on the basis of a first information report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022, regarding alleged irregularities in the award of a contract for the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of electromagnetic flow meters and corresponding operations and maintenance for a period of five years.