📌 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.
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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…”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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”.
Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption.
Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More
Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 16 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism.
Expertise
High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including:
The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls.
National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus.
Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities.
National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements.
Academic Credentials:
Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions.
Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More
The cost (including installation charges) of some of the most expensive items at Kejriwal’s residence
A view of Arvind Kejriwal’s house when he was the chief minister. (Express Archives)
Source: CAG report for year ending March 2022
