ED questions ex-Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in DJB-linked PMLA case

Former Delhi minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged corruption in the augmentation of some Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plants, official sources said.

Jain, 60, reached the federal probe agency's office here around 11:15 am and his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) politician has held portfolios like Health, Industries, Power, Public Works Department, Home and Urban Development in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

This is the third money laundering investigation in which ED is probing the role of Jain.

He was arrested by the agency in 2022 and later chargesheeted in an alleged hawala transactions and possession of disproportionate assets case. Recently, the ED booked him in an alleged classroom construction scam case along with former deputy CM and AAP leader Manish Sisodia.

The investigation in the latest case pertains to allegations of corruption in the augmentation of some sewage treatment plants by the Delhi Jal Board. The ED had conducted searches in this case in July last year.

The money laundering probe stems from an FIR of the Delhi government anti-corruption branch (ACB) against a Hyderabad based company named Euroteck Environmental Pvt Ltd. and others alleging a scam in the DJB in the name of augmentation and upgradation of 10 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) at Pappankala, Nilothi, Najafgarh, Keshopur, Coronation Pillar, Narela, Rohini and Kondli.

According to the ACB, only three JV companies participated in the four tenders issued.

These four tenders valued at Rs 1,943 crore were awarded to various joint venture (JV) entities in October, 2022.

It said, as per the ED, the tendering conditions were made "restrictive" including adoption of IFAS ((Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge) technology to ensure that a select few entities could participate in the four tenders.

The verification of the tender documents shows that the initial cost of four tenders was about Rs 1,546 crore, which was revised to Rs 1,943 crore without following due process/project reports, according to the ED.

The contracts were awarded to three JVs at "inflated" rates which caused "substantive" loss to the exchequer and all the JVs sub-contracted the work related to the four tenders to the Hyderabad company, the agency claimed.