The Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has registered a case against former PWD minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain over alleged corruption in a Rs 571-Crore CCTV project. The case revolves around claims that Jain waived damages worth Rs 16 Crore imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for delays in installing CCTV cameras across Delhi. In exchange, he allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 7 Crore through contractors who benefited from additional orders. The Pioneer was the first newspaper to report the CCTV project scam.
Joint Commissioner of Police (ACB) Madhur Verma said the FIR was registered on Tuesday after obtaining prior sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. An FIR was filed under Sections 7 and 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after obtaining approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act from the competent authority.
In August 2019, the Delhi government under the AAP proposed a penalty of Rs 16 Crore on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for its “slow pace” in installing 1.4 Lakh CCTVs in the capital. The Rs 571-Crore project, which included an annual maintenance clause for five years, specified the installation of 2,000 CCTVs in each of the 70 Assembly constituencies.
“Jain is accused of arbitrarily waiving liquidated damages worth Rs 16 Crore imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for delays in installing CCTV cameras across Delhi. The waiver was allegedly granted after receiving a Rs 7-Crore bribe,” Verma said in a statement. Multiple complaints have suggested that the project was executed in a shoddy manner, with several cameras found to be non-functional at the time of hand over, he said.
According to the statement, the case is based on a news report which claimed that a bribe of Rs 7 Crore was arranged for Jain, who was the nodal officer for the CCTV project, in exchange for waiving penalties imposed on BEL and its contractors.
The penalties were initially levied in August 2019 by the previous AAP government due to significant delays in the installation of 1.4 Lakh CCTV cameras across Delhi’s 70 assembly constituencies.
The government publicly expressed its displeasure with the public sector undertaking (PSU), which was awarded the contract in November 2018, and threatened to invoke the penalty clause, outlined in the agreement entered into by the two sides. The government issued a show cause notice and had also threatened to blacklist the firm.
During verification, a BEL officer provided a detailed complaint supporting the allegations. The complaint further alleged that in addition to waiving the penalties, additional orders for 1.4 Lakh more CCTV cameras were awarded to BEL, the Joint CP said. The bribe was allegedly routed through contractors who received the additional camera installation orders. Payments were reportedly made by inflating vendor order values, Verma said.
The ACB is in the process of scrutinising relevant documents from the Public Works Department (PWD) and BEL. A case has been registered under sections 7 (offence related to public servant being bribed) and 13(1)(a) (criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, read with Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, he added. A comprehensive investigation has been launched to determine the full extent of the conspiracy and the involvement of PWD officials and BEL executives, the statement said.
