Bharadwaj raps LG for ‘political probe’ into graft allegations against former Delhi minister

New Delhi

A day after lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena approved an investigation into an alleged incident of bribery against former minister Satyendar Jain, in connection with a CCTV camera project, Delhi urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the probe was political in nature and an attempt by the LG to create a perception that the Delhi government was corrupt.

Bharadwaj said the probe, ordered under the Prevention of Corruption of Corruption Act, 1988, is among a series of such new investigations launched by the LG “every week” and officers who fall under the jurisdiction of the LG “are found at fault in every case”.

“We have never heard till date that a company of the Indian government will bribe the Delhi Government (in CCTV case). The LG has complete freedom to order investigation on anyone on any given day; so, every week, he orders a new investigation so that a false perception develops that there is corruption taking place,” Bharadwaj said.

He said that no such allegation of corruption has been proved in any of the cases so far. “In all these cases, the fault is ultimately found to be at the end of officers, all of whom come under the LG. He decides who will become the secretary of which department and which works will be done. He alone can take the disciplinary proceedings against them. LG has all the autonomy, but there in no accountability. Who will ask him what has happened in all these cases? It is all political,” he said.

The LG’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said, “Why is Saurabh Bharadwaj afraid of investigation? Whenever there is talk of investigation, the Aam Aadmi Party opposes it. Why should the truth be affected? They (AAP) know that they will be found guilty in the investigation.”

On Saturday, LG Saxena approved the proposal of directorate of vigilance (DoV) to refer the matter under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act, 1998, to the Union ministry of home affairs, for approving investigation against the former Delhi minister Jain by the anti-corruption branch (ACB) of the Delhi government. Jain has been accused of receiving a bribe of ₹7 crore for waiving off penalty of ₹16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) for delay in installing 140,000 CCTV cameras in Delhi, at a cost of ₹571 crore.

LG secretariat officials said the allegations against Jain emerged on a complaint by an employee of BEL in September 2019, wherein the complainant alleged that the BEL paid Jain ₹7 crore through its vendors.

An official said that besides the complaint, the ACB also obtained information from undisclosed sources that corroborated the case of the complainant.