Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed that the 2024 Delhi Jal Board corruption case against former minister Satyender Jain will be “proven fake”, accusing the ACB of arresting him at “the behest of the BJP”.
Kejriwal's reaction came as Jain was arrested on Tuesday over alleged corruption in Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tenders. The action was taken by the Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with an FIR registered in 2024.
Accusing the ACB of taking action on “BJP's behest”, Kejriwal said that “lies will be exposed again”, referring to Jain's previous acquittal in another corruption case.
“Satyendra Jain ji has once again been arrested at the behest of the BJP. Just a short while ago, everyone remembers the ordeal they put him through by throwing him in jail. The previous case was fabricated, and this case will be proven fake, too. How long will the BJP's dictatorship continue like this? They throw anyone they please into jail on false charges. Their lies will once again be exposed before the nation, but who will compensate for the time spent in jail and the mental torture endured?” he wrote on X.
Arvind Kejriwal backed Satyender Jain, saying that the entire Aam Aadmi Party stands “firmly” with the former minister.
{{/usCountry}}Arvind Kejriwal backed Satyender Jain, saying that the entire Aam Aadmi Party stands “firmly” with the former minister.
{{/usCountry}}"The BJP's cup of sins has now overflowed. No matter how much tyranny they resort to, the end of the Modi government is now certain. The entire Aam Aadmi Party and the people of the country stand firmly with Satyendra Jain ji," the former Delhi CM added.
Satyender Jain's arrest
The case against Satyender Jain and others was registered on the complaint of the Delhi government's Directorate of Vigilance regarding large-scale irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions, and criminal conspiracy in the tendering process for the augmentation or upgradation of the DJB's Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs).
Apart from Jain, who was then the minister of water, five others have also been arrested. These include former DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai and the board's former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava.
The other accused arrested are Ankit Srivastava, a former contractual consultant with the DJB, and private persons Nagendra Yadav, Raja Kumar Kurra and Pankaj Verma, the ACB said in a statement.
The FIR in the case was registered in May 2024 under Sections 7, 7A, 9, and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), along with Sections 420, 409, 418, and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.