Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Sunday gave his nod for a CBI probe into the alleged corruption in the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

The report submitted by chief secretary  Naresh Kumar on August 19 had pointed out certain “irregularities”, following which the Lieutenant Governor has now forwarded the complaint to the CBI, sources said, adding the CBI is already conducting a preliminary enquiry into the matter.

Saxena has approved the clubbing of the current complaint with the complaint already being enquired into by the Central probe agency.

The AAP has hit back at the LG saying the buses were never purchased and tenders were cancelled.

In a series of Press conferences, AAP MLAs claimed the CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry and the agency could not find anything a year ago. AAP leaders Saurav Bhardwaj, Atishi, and Durgesh Pathak said, “The LG is facing many serious allegations of corruption. To divert attention, he is making such enquiries. All enquiries so far have yielded no results. After making frivolous complaints against three Ministers, he has now made a complaint against the fourth Minister. He should first respond to the allegations of corruption against him.

“These buses were never purchased, and tenders were cancelled. Delhi needs a more educated LG. This man has no clue what he is signing on.”

The development comes amid raging controversy over CBI searches of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s premises  in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy. The AAP and the LG have been locked in a bitter standoff as both sides have accused each other of corruption.

The BJP, which has all along sided with the LG, on Sunday wasted no time in hitting out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying tenders were prepared by friends of the Kejriwal Government and Kejriwal and corruption have become synonymous.

The BJP leaders said Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot was made the chairman of the committee for tendering and procurement of buses by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) “with the intention of giving benefits to friends”. 

“There are general financial rules. I want to ask Kejriwal why he didn’t follow the general financial rules. Does he think that he stands above the laws and constitution of the nation?” BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said at a Press conference along with MLA Vijendra Gupta and Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta. Bhatia said, “Kejriwal and corruption have become synonymous.”

Sources in Raj Niwas said a  complaint addressed to Saxena in June this year had claimed that the appointment of the Minister of Transport as the chairman of the committee for tendering and procurement of buses by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) was done in a “premeditated manner”.

It had also alleged that the appointment of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) as a bid management consultant for this tender was done with an aim to facilitate wrongdoing.

The complaint had alleged irregularities in a July 2019 procurement bid for 1,000 low floors BS-IV and BS-VI buses and another bid made in March 2020 for the purchase and annual maintenance contract for low-floor BS-VI buses, the sources said. The complaint was forwarded to the chief secretary on July 22 to seek comments from the departments of the Delhi government and consequently their recommendations.

A committee, headed by retired IAS officer OP Aggrawal, constituted to look into the charges of corruption in the procurement of buses in June 2021, in its report submitted in August last year, had clearly indicted the AAP Government for”procedural deviations in the entire tendering and procurement procedure,”the sources said.

A matter linked to the bus procurement case is also in the Delhi High Court. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had last year approached the High Court with his civil defamation lawsuit against the BJP’s Vijender Gupta, seeking Rs 5 crore in damages, accusing him of making scandalous statements over the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses.  On Wednesday, the court asked the two leaders to explore the possibility of settling the defamation case.