Audit trail of Kejriwal’s CM residence: Cost up thrice to Rs 33 crore, splurge on curtains to carpets

📌 A sum of Rs 20 lakh was agreed upon for marble stone for walls but the final cost touched Rs 66.89 lakh

📌 Floor tiles were budgeted for Rs 5.5 lakh but went up to Rs 14 lakh.

📌 During execution, built-up area went up 36 per cent (from 1,397 sq m to 1,905 sq m).

All these contributed to the escalation of cost of renovation of the premises of 6, Flag Staff Road, office and residence of then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. From preliminary estimates of Rs 7.91 crore, work was awarded at Rs 8.62 crore in 2020 and when it was completed by the Public Works Department (PWD) in 2022, the total cost was Rs 33.66 crore.

These are learnt to be among the key findings of a report by then Comptroller and AuditorGeneral Girish Chandra Murmu. The Indian Express has learned that Murmu signed off on this report just a week before he demitted office on November 20, 2024.

Flagging his campaign Friday for the upcoming Delhi elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Kejirwal saying he could have built a “Sheesh Mahal” — the BJP’s name for this house as a symbol of what it calls AAP’s corruption — but had ensured that four crore citizens had got houses in the last 10 years.

Weeks after he was released on bail in the liquor case in September — in which he was arrested by Enforcement Directorate on March 21, 2024 — Kejriwal had vacated the premises in October 2024 after stepping down as Delhi Chief Minister on September 17.

The cost (including installation charges) of some of the most expensive items at Kejriwal’s residence

Asked about the audit and its findings, an AAP spokesperson called it a “diversionary tactic by the BJP, days before the elections when they have lost the narrative”.

He reiterated Kejriwal’s remarks from Friday: “It sounds odd to hear about the official CM residence, which was built by the PWD, from a party whose leader lives in a Rs 2,700 crore house, travels in an Rs 8,400 crore aircraft, wears Rs 10 lakh suits…”

The AAP has consistently said that the property is not Kejriwal’s “personal” asset and, as the CM’s residence, will be allotted to others in the future.

The CAG report is said to have a section on “irregularities” by PWD related to the “remodelling” of existing accommodation on the ground floor and the construction of an “additional storey.”

The report, which is yet to be placed before the Delhi Assembly, is learnt to have highlighted: “doubtful” selection of consultants, frequent revision of estimates and going beyond approvals to include items of higher specifications.

Underlining issues related in the “restricted tendering” for the project, the CAG report is learnt to have noted that tenders were invited in October 2020 from five contractors of whom only three submitted their bids and work was awarded to the lowest bidder from among a “deficient” list of probables drawn up by PWD.

A view of Arvind Kejriwal’s house when he was the chief minister. (Express Archives)

Explaining this, the CAG, it is learnt, has mentioned that the remaining four contractors had done work linked to classrooms in schools, development of park at Atal Samadhi and this showed that they didn’t have the experience of doing similar work in VIP areas as was claimed by PWD.

A key conclusion of the CAG’s findings, it is learnt, is that of the Rs 33.66 crore of total expenses, Rs 18.88 crore has been spent on what the auditor has described as “items of superior specification, artistic, antique and ornamental items,” which were all executed by the PWD as “extra items.”

The CAG’s report is said to have annexures which have lists of 198 civil “extra” components as well as 40 “extra” electrical components.

The report is learnt to show how, from September 2020 to June 2022, five revised estimates were provided, the fifth showing there was an increase in scope of work such as artistic and ornamental work (Rs 5.07 crore), designer accessories and fittings (Rs 48.27 lakh) and marble work (Rs 1.97 crore) over and above the third provisional estimate given in October 2021.

The audit report has separate sections on the additions and alterations made for the construction of the staff block and camp office attached to the Chief Minister’s residence and what it calls the “inflated” Preliminary Estimates of Rs 3.86 crore for this staff block and camp office.

The audit is also said to flag that Rs 1.87 crore was spent on fixing/placing of sanitary items, furniture and gym equipment at the residence and these items were included as “extra items” in…”addition/alteration of Staff Block/Camp Office, 6 Staff Flag Road, Civil Lines…”

The CAG is also said to have complained about what it called the Delhi Government’s reluctance to submit the requisite paperwork. It has mentioned that in the absence of supply vouchers along with challans, the “genuineness” of material supplied by the contractors and the rate at which these were purchased could not be verified.

Source: CAG report for year ending March 2022

Last month, the Delhi Vigilance Directorate, tasked with investigating alleged irregularities related to the renovation of 6 Flag Staff Road, soon after the matter first surfaced in May 2023, asked the PWD to probe and submit a report on who or which organisation provided the “lavish items” found at the property.

While the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a preliminary enquiry in the matter in September 2023, the latest probe was ordered by Delhi L-G VK Saxena on December 6, 2024 after a complaint filed by Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly and BJP MLA Vijender Gupta in November last year.

In August, 2024, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) suspended three engineers for their alleged role in illegalities related to works at the residence which the AAP called a “witch-hunt”.