Last Updated on 06/07/2024 by wccexam Desk
Recommendation for investigation against Satyendra Jain approved.
Satyandra Jain under stress: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved a recommendation for a probe under the Prevention of Corruption Act against former National Capital Territory minister Satyendra Jain, Raj Niwas officials said on Saturday. The case is linked to alleged corruption in the installation of CCTV cameras in the national capital.
BJP accused of plotting a conspiracy
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that the case against Jain was part of the BJP’s “continuous conspiracies” against it and the Delhi government. The BJP, on the other hand, said the sanctioning of the probe “does not come as a surprise” and was expected long ago. “The BJP is continuously hatching conspiracies against the Delhi government day and night to stop its work,” the AAP said in a statement.
Satyendra Jain was arrested in May 2022
The AAP claimed that “in the last 10 years, more than 200 cases have been registered against AAP ministers and MLAs and our top leadership, including Delhi Chief Minister (Arvind) Kejriwal, has been sent to jail. This case is another step towards suppressing AAP”. However, the BJP described Jain as the “master of corruption in the Delhi Cabinet”. Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in May 2022 in a money laundering case. He is currently in judicial custody.
The fine was waived after taking a bribe of Rs 7 crores!
According to Raj Niwas officials, in the present case, it is alleged that Jain had taken a bribe of Rs 7 crore to waive off a penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on a company for delay in installing CCTVs in 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi. They said Saxena agreed to the vigilance directorate’s proposal to refer the matter to the Union Home Ministry under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act for sanctioning an inquiry against Jain by the Anti-Corruption Branch.
Resigned from the post of minister in February 2023
Officials said Jain was the Public Works Department (PWD) minister and the nodal officer for the project to install 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in Delhi at a cost of Rs 571 crore. Jain resigned from the ministerial post in February 2023, a few months after his arrest in a money laundering case. In its statement, the AAP claimed that despite a large number of corruption cases registered against its leaders, the investigating agencies have not been able to recover a single penny yet.
The party said, “Ever since the AAP came to power (in Delhi), the BJP and its central government have tried everything possible to weaken and paralyse it.” It alleged that this includes implementing the GNCTD Act against the Supreme Court’s decision and obstructing public interest initiatives through bureaucracy by stopping payments for medicines for mohalla clinics and government hospitals.
The party said this was the 201st case against AAP leaders and “like the previous 200 cases, the BJP and its central government are trying to paralyse the Delhi government because AAP is an honest party.” BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said the sanction to probe the “bribe received by Jain from a project related to installation of CCTVs” was long overdue.