ED questions Satyendar Jain in DJB's STP probe
Jain, 60, reached the ED office on APJ Abdul Kalam Road at around 11am after which his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Details of the questioning were not yet known.
The AAP leader is also under investigation in other cases as well by ED, including a 2022 case pertaining to alleged hawala transactions and possession of disproportionate assets, in which he was arrested that year as well. The agency last month booked him in connection to alleged irregularities in the construction of classrooms at government hospitals.
Early in June, he was interrogated along with former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia by the Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch in connection with alleged irregularities in the construction of classrooms during the previous government's tenure.
Jain held various portfolios in the Delhi government during the AAP rule, including health, industries, power, Public Works Department, home and urban development.
The probe into augmentation of STPs pertains to tenders awarded for upgradation of 10 STPs at Pappankala, Nilothi (Package 1), Najafgarh, Keshopur (Package 2), Coronation Pillar, Narela, Rohini (Package 3) and Kondli (Package 4).
The four tenders, valued at ₹1,943 crore, were awarded to various joint venture (JV) entities in October 2022.
According to ED, only three JV companies participated in the four tenders.
'While two JVs got one tender each, one JV got two tenders. The three JVs participated in the four STP tenders mutually to ensure that each one got the tender,' according to a statement by the probe agency shared in the matter in July 2024 after raids at various locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
It has also alleged that the tendering conditions were made restrictive, including adoption of IFAS technology to ensure that select few entities could participate in the four bids.
The agency has also alleged that the 'contracts were awarded to the three JVs at inflated rates which caused a substantive loss to the exchequer. 'The cost estimates initially prepared was ₹1,546 crore but was revised during the tender process to ₹1,943 crore,' it said in July 2024.
'The costs adopted by DJB for upgradation and augmentation were same though the cost of upgrading is lesser than the cost for augmentation. All the 3 JVs submitted the same experience certificate issued from a Taiwan Project to DJB for securing the tenders and the same was accepted without any verifications,' it added.
Subsequently, all the three JVs sub-contracted the work related to the four tenders to a single company in Hyderabad.
The AAP, in response, defended Jain and said the proceedings against him are 'absurd'.
'ED's own statement completely demolishes the foundation of this case. It admits the matter pertains to October 2022 — yet Satyendar Jain had already been arrested by ED in May 2022. How can someone be part of a conspiracy months after being jailed? ED has exposed the absurdity of its own case,' the party said in a statement on Thursday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Free or fee? Parking lots stuck in neutral
Ludhiana: Almost two years have passed since the MC auctioned five parking lots in the city but fresh tenders are nowhere in sight. The civic body initially attributed the delay to the Ludhiana West bypoll. Now, they say that they are waiting for the finance and contracts committee meeting. Officials said that three sites were declared free for parking and it is unclear whether they will be included in the auction. The current parking contractor was hired for one year in October, 2022, but in the absence of an e-auction, he is still serving. Before his demise, former MLA of Ludhiana West, Gurpreet Gogi, made Sarabha Nagar market parking free of charge. When the bypoll was announced, AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora announced the Model Town Extension market and two parking lots as parking fee-free. This leaves the MC with the parking lot in Feroze Gandhi market, the multi-storey parking lot near Mata Rani Chowk, Bhadhaur House, and the remaining parking lots of BRS Nagar. Sources said that the MC prepared a proposal for auction and floated tenders in December last year but the tenders were withdrawn due to certain reasons. Officials said that they will flag the issue in the F&CC meeting, after which a decision will be taken. However, things may not be quite as simple. Members of Feroze Gandhi Market Association also want free parking. Their rationale — If Sarabha Nagar Market and Model Town Extension Market have been declared free for parking, why not them? They claimed to have requested civic authorities to hand over market parking lots to the association, as the lots belong to shopkeepers in the area but the civic body did not act on their requests. Demanding uniformity in parking policy, they asked the MC to make the parking free of charge. MC commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said, "The decision is pending at the level of the mayor, and she has to take a call about the e-auction." Despite repeated attempts, mayor Inderjit Kaur could not be contacted for comments. Parking is a major issue in the city. With high vehicle density and limited parking space, it is common to see vehicles parked on roadsides. Also, there have been frequent complaints about overcharging and misbehaviour at parking lots managed by the existing contractor. Questions are being raised on the MC for not cancelling the agreement despite receiving complaints. Quotes Parking rates should be genuine so that people park in parking lots but here, people face serious issues. Authorities need to check irregularities Shifali Kapoor | Resident, Bharat Nagar Chowk Authorities hardly care about public grievances. They can check such issues only if they visit the field. Contractors do whatever they want to do Inderpreet Singh | Resident, Sarabha Nagar 2022 auction: 6 parking fetched Rs 3.57 crore The MC auctioned six parking lots for Rs 3.57 crore in 2022. Of these, Feroze Gandhi Market and multi-storey parking lots in Zone A were auctioned for Rs 1.29 crore and Rs1.11 crore respectively while Bhadhaur House and Sarabha Nagar parking lots were auctioned for Rs 4.71 lakh and Rs30.4 lakh. The BRS Nagar parking lot was auctioned for Rs 23.01 lakh and the Model Town Extension parking lot was auctioned for Rs 29 lakh. Failure to adopt a single policy for auction of parking sites may lead to major revenue loss. Unmet requirements Before handing over parking sites, the MC fixes certain conditions, including e-ticket machines, uniform with ID cards for employees, display boards showing parking fee, proper marking for parking of two-wheelers and cars and e-pos machines at the entrance of parking site. However, these conditions are rarely fulfilled. No penalties imposed Penalties ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 can be imposed for violations. If the contractor repeats the same mistake thrice, then the contract can be terminated. However, this has never happened despite several complaints of overcharging and misbehaviour by staff with people coming to the parking lots. MSID:: 122250422 413 |
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Maharashtra: ED registers fresh money laundering case against husband of IPS officer in two fraud cases involving Rs 32 crore
The Enforcement Directorate recently registered a fresh money laundering case against Purushottam Chavan, husband of Maharashtra IPS officer Rashmi Karandikar. Confirming the development, a source said the central agency's fresh Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Chavan is based on two FIRs filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police in February this year pertaining to the two offences committed between March 2015 and April 2024. The central agency suspects that the accused laundered money for the purpose of defrauding innocent people and making wrongful gains. In the first case of EOW, Chavan and 11 others are accused of allegedly duping 20 people of Rs 24.78 crore under the pretext of selling them government quota flats in Mumbai, Thane, and Pune at concessional rates using his influence in the government departments. In the second FIR, Chavan is accused of defrauding a Surat-based businessman, Raosaheb Desai and others of Rs 7.42 crore. He allegedly accepted money from the businessman under the false pretense of selling plots from the government quota at a discounted rate. Also, he allegedly promised to assist the businessman in securing contracts for supplying T-shirts to the Maharashtra Police Academy in Nashik, but he never delivered on his promises. In both these cases, Chavan was previously arrested by EOW. Chavan has been in judicial custody ever since he was arrested by the ED in May last year in a Rs 263-crore income tax refund (ITR) fraud case. Besides this, the Gujarat Police also arrested Chavan a few months ago in connection with a third cheating case. Chavan's wife IPS officer Karandikar was earlier enquired by EOW about the details of Rs 2.5 crore she allegedly received from an ICICI bank account belonging to her accused husband. She has allegedly diverted this money to invest in share trading. However, so far, she has not been named as an accused in the case, an EOW officer said. The EOW last month has written to the Maharashtra DGP office seeking details if Karandikar had informed the department before making investment in the share trading. 'We are awaiting a report from the DG office. In case we find of share transactions which are not permitted as per the conduct rule, then we will be subsequently writing for a departmental action against Karandikar,' said a senior EOW officer. Karandikar has already distanced herself from Chavan.
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Sonia Gandhi lawyer to court in National Herald case: A strange case, might even be unprecedented
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi Friday argued that the ED's National Herald money laundering case was 'truly a strange' one. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Sonia, said: 'This is a strange case…it might even be unprecedented. This is a case of money laundering without any money or property having moved. AJL's (Associated Journals Ltd.) assets have existed for decades. Not one of these properties have moved ownership even by an inch. What happened was that the debt of AJL was assigned to YI (young Indian).' 'Debt can be assigned to someone else to make companies debt-free… Suppose AJL's debt was taken by Tatas or Birlas, will Tatas and Birlas be accused of money laundering?' Singhvi argued. 'YI only has a right on dividends and not on the assets of AJL,' he said. Singhvi made these submissions before the court of Special Judge Vishal Gogne in the context of the allegations levelled by the ED wherein it alleged that the Congress created a company called Young Indian to launder money worth `2,000 crore from AJL — company which used to publish the National Herald newspaper. As per ED, senior Congress leaders provided an interest-free loan of `90 crore to AJL, which had assets worth `2,000 crore, for a 'consideration of just `50 lakh'. The ED said this debt taken by the AJL was allegedly converted into equity in favour of the not-for-profit company Young Indian, in which Sonia and her son Congress MP Rahul Gandhi held a majority 76% share. 'There is an 11-year gap between the restructuring of the firm (AJL) and the ECIR (analogous to the ED's FIR). There is also an 8-year gap between the private complaint and the ECIR,' Singhvi said. 'The ED has never done this in 23 years. Picking up a private complaint that hasn't been probed in years and then requesting the court to take cognizance.' The case originated in 2012 from a criminal complaint filed by the then BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy against the Gandhis and other leaders of the Congress, whom he accused of fraud in acquiring AJL's property.
