Days after conducting raids at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s residence, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) into charges of corruption in the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Government.
The PE bearing number 04(A)/2021/CBI/ACB/New Delhi was registered on the reference of the Union Home Ministry, officials said.
The Delhi Government refuted the “allegations” of corruption in bus procurement and accused the BJP-led Central Government of “harassing” it by using the
CBI.
The matter of alleged “corruption” in the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) of bus procurement by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) was raised by the BJP in Delhi Assembly in March this
year.
A three-member committee formed by former Lt-Governor Anil Baijal in June had found procedural “flaws” in the AMC and recommended scrapping it.
The L-G had referred the matter to the Union Home Ministry for its consideration, the officials said.
A PE is the first step in ascertaining allegations in a complaint and the same is converted into an FIR if there is prima facie substance in the alleged offence, they added.
On August 16, last year, Additional Secretary, Union Home Ministry, Govind Mohan in a reference to the then Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, said, “I am writing this in connection with purchase of 1,000 Low Floor Buses by the Delhi Government and the report submitted by the three-member committee constituted by the Government of NCT Delhi for a detailed enquiry into the matter.”