NEW DELHI, 19 March (H.S.) : The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has filed a First

Information Report (FIR) against Satyendra Jain, who previously held the

position of Minister for the Public Works Department in the Delhi Government.

Jain, who served in the Aam Aadmi Party Government, is accused of

inappropriately waiving a penalty of Rs 16 crore that was imposed on Bharat

Electronics Limited (BEL) for liquidated damages during his time in office.

Under the Aam Aadmi Party's governance, a total of 1.40 lakh CCTV cameras were

installed across 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi, with an expenditure of Rs

571 crore. The penalty was levied on BEL for failing to complete the

installation of these cameras within the stipulated timeframe.

A statement from the

ACB revealed that a bribe amounting to Rs 7 crore was orchestrated to be given

to the project's nodal officer, former PWD minister Satyendra Jain, in exchange

for the cancellation of liquidated damages amounting to Rs 16 crore. In the

course of the investigation, the ACB questioned an official from BEL, who

confirmed these allegations and provided a detailed complaint concerning the

issue.

According to the complainant, not only was the penalty of

Rs 16 crore waived off, but BEL was also given repeated orders to install an

additional 1.4 lakh cameras. The complainant also said that the bribe amount of

Rs 7 crore was given through the same contractors who had received additional

orders for 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras.

The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) said that it is in the

process of acquiring and examining documents pertaining to the Public Works

Department (PWD) and the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Following the

results of this investigation, a case has been filed against the former PWD

minister of the previous Delhi government under multiple sections of the law.

Hindusthan Samachar / Meenakshi Bhattacharya