Trouble for AAP in ‘Rs 2,000-crore classroom scam’: Anti Corruption Branch registers FIR against Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain

Madhur Verma, Head, ACB, confirmed the registration of the FIR. “The Chief Technical Examiner’s report of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) pointed out several anomalies in the project, and the report was kept under the carpet for about three years. The case was registered after permission under section 17-A Prevention of Corruption Act was received from the competent authority,” he said.

Officials said the project was reportedly awarded to some contractors associated with the AAP, and significant deviations and cost escalations were observed. They added that the consultant and architect for the project were appointed without following due procedure, and cost escalations were carried out through them.

The FIR triggered a political backlash.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva demanded that the ACB probe the role of the then chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, in the alleged scam. “This is a decisive moment in the fight against corruption of AAP and its previous government in Delhi,” he said

Hitting back, the AAP in a statement said it is clear now that the BJP government is incapable of doing any real work. “All they know is to file one baseless case after another against Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders.”

“This is pure political vendetta. It’s a deliberate attempt to intimidate and paralyse the AAP. But the BJP must understand one thing clearly — the AAP does not fear their intimidation tactics, their bogus FIRs, or their ED-CBI witch hunts,” it added.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said the FIR has supported the allegations raised by the Congress in the case. He claimed that the Congress had earlier flagged serious irregularities in the construction of school classrooms and buildings during the tenure of the former Education and PWD ministers.

What does the complaint state?

In 2019, three BJP leaders — Kapil Mishra, Harish Khurana and Neelkant Bakshi — had filed a complaint alleging financial irregularities in the construction of additional classrooms in government schools in zones 23, 24 and 28. In their complaint, they alleged the government spent Rs 28 lakh per classroom while it takes Rs 5 lakh to construct one.

The lump sum cost for constructing one school room, as per the awarded tenders, is approximately Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms could ordinarily be constructed in Delhi for around Rs 5 lakh each, the complaint claimed.

Further, it is alleged that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, most of whom are allegedly associated with the AAP.

During verification, it was revealed that in the meetings of the Expenditure Finance Committee for the financial year 2015-16, it was decided that the project would be completed by June 2016 at the sanctioned cost, without any scope for future cost escalations. However, officials said, despite these directions, no work was completed within the prescribed time period, and significant deviations and cost escalations were observed.

The examination report of the Chief Technical Examiner, CVC, in the instant matter was issued on February 17, 2020, with the approval of the competent authority. The report raised serious violations of various clauses of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) works manual 2014, General Financial Rules 2017, CVC guidelines and other irregularities.

It also alleged that various decisions taken after the award of tenders were not in accordance with the laid guidelines of the CVC and other manuals, which led to a huge escalation of costs, resulting in financial loss.

The CVC report also observed that, ultimately, the actual cost of the constructed semi-permanent structures was more or less equal to the cost of permanent structures.