In another blow to the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has forwarded a complaint to the CBI, to look into the alleged corruption in purchasing 1,000 buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
Responding to the move by Delhi L-G, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed the CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry and the agency could not find anything a year ago.
Bharadwaj said that the L-G is making enquiries to divert attention from allegations he is facing. “The L-G is facing many serious allegations of corruption. To divert attention, he is making such enquiries. All enquiries so far have yielded no results. After making frivolous complaints against three ministers, he has now made a complaint against the fourth minister. He should first respond to the allegations of corruption against him,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
“These buses were never purchased, and tenders were cancelled. Delhi needs a more educated L-G. This man has no clue what he is signing on,” he added.
The complaint, addressed to Saxena in June 2022, highlighted the premeditated step in appointment of the Minister of Transport as the chairman of the committee for tendering and procurement of buses by DTC.
Apart from this, the complaint also claimed that the appointment of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) as bid management consultant was done to further facilitate wrongdoing.
The complaint talks about a July 2019 procurement bid for 1,000 low floor BS-IV and BS-VI buses, and another bid made in March 2020 for the purchase and annual maintenance contract for low floor BS-VI buses. It alleged irregularities in both these deals, according to PTI sources.
From here, the complaint was forwarded to the Chief Secretary on July 22, and was then submitted to the LG on August 19, after certain irregularities were found. Currently the CBI is in collar for this.
Saxena has approved the clubbing of the current complaint with the complaint already being inquired into by the central probe agency.
A committee headed by retired IAS officer OP Aggrawal (retd) which looked into the charges of corruption, clearly called the AAP government for procedural deviations. It submitted a report for the same in August.
“Criminal misconduct by public servants in this tender exercise will be ascertained by the investigating agency, i.e. the CBI. “On the basis of this, the Chief Secretary recommended to refer the matter to the CBI, which was approved by the L-G,” a source told PTI.
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