The Anti – Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi government on Monday registered a FIR in the alleged 400 crore tanker scam against the previous Sheila Dikshit government as well as the current Kejriwal Government. The case dates back to 2012 when Delhi JalBoard, with Dikshit as chairperson, had awarded tenders for hiring 385 stainless steel water tankers from private companies. ACB chief Mukesh Meena said both Arvind and Sheela could be called for questioning.
Meena said the FIR was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with two other sections. Section 13 (1D), on misuse of power, and sections 120B and 409, which refer to hatching of a criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust by a public servant, have also been invoked.
On June 19 last year, the AAP government set up a fact-finding committee on the deal which, in its report submitted in August, alleged a scam of Rs 400 crore. The committee found that a consultant had been appointed on a nomination basis, causing a loss of Rs 36.5 crore. Though the tender of one company was rejected on the ground that it was the only tender, later work was awarded on a single tender.The committee calculated the loss on account of awarding of work at higher rates compared to the rates quoted by another firm at Rs 323.9 crore.
BJP’s Vijender Gupta said in his complaint to the LG said that Arvind Kejriwal and Mishra were equally guilty as they didn’t take any action for almost 10 months.”The AAP government slept over the key findings of the WTDMS (Water Tankers Distribution Management System) committee report that the appointment of the consultants was done in an arbitrary manner on a nomination basis, contravening the Central Vigilance Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) guidelines,” Gupta wrote. “The previous govern ment awarded the work to some firms by accepting a single tender and awarded them zones of their own choice whereas the bid of a company was rejected on the ground of a single tender. Moreover, change of NIT (notice inviting tenders) conditions was carried out to extend an undue favor to contractors, ignoring government revenue
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was not amused by these turnout of events and he said that “Mr Modi I am not Rahul, Sonia Gandhi or Vadra” Watch the video here
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