Water Minister Kapil Mishra was questioned in the Rs 400-crore water tanker scam case at the Anti-Corruption Branch office for two hours on Monday.
According to senior police officials in the ACB, Mishra did not give satisfactory answers to the questions asked to him regarding the case. Officials said that Mishra will be called for questioning again and the accused in the water tanker scam will also be called for questioning soon.
Mishra was asked about the fact-finding committee report on the case and on what basis he had based his allegations in the report, to which he said he had just forwarded the report after getting it to the Chief Minister who had sent it to lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ACB officials said.
Mishra had formed a five-member fact-finding committee which had submitted its report on the water tanker case in August 2015. The report highlighted alleged corruption of Rs 400 crore in the process of awarding tenders for hiring water tankers.
It recommended an FIR against former CM and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ACB.
last week, on Monday, almost a year later, the report was sent to the Prime Minister and the lieutenant Governor by the AAP Government.
Officials further said that when Mishra was asked about the action he had taken on the fact-finding report and why the report was forwarded to the l-G and the Prime Minister so late, he replied saying the matter is with the ACB and that he would only answer to such questions after the ACB completes investigation into the case.
“It is surprising how he could say this as investigation in this matter will take a lot of time, the case being so big,” officials added.
Special Commissioner of Police New Delhi Range and Anti-corruption Branch chief MK Meena said, “Kapil Mishra did not answer satisfactorily to the questions that were asked by the ACB officials. He will be called for questioning again. Sheila Dixit and Arvind Kejriwal will also be called for questioning soon. The ACB is working independently without any external pressure.”