Satyendar Jain, who had spent nearly 18 months in jail in a money laundering case in 2022, was arrested for allegedly being involved in the manipulation of a tender process at the Delhi Jal Board.

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi water minister Satyendar Jain has cited the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab as the reason behind his arrest in the corruption case linked to the Delhi Jal Board.

Jain, who had spent nearly 18 months in jail in a money laundering case in 2022, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Tuesday for allegedly being involved in the manipulation of a tender process at the Delhi Jal Board. As he was being escorted to the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi, Jain told the media, "It is done because of the Punjab elections".

Jain, along with five other accused, including ex-Delhi Jal Board CEO Udit Prakash Rai, have been produced before the court.

Later, Jain's lawyer, senior Advocate N Hariharan, asserted that the arrest was "made against the law".

"The ACB did not provide any grounds for arrest to the accused. The Enforcement Department filed a chargesheet in this case, but no arrests were made. The ACB also called for questioning in this case and arrested him," he said.

According to his lawyer, Jain is accused of deliberately changing the standards of an STP (Sewage Treatment Plant), while the meeting notes say otherwise. "The grounds for the arrest are completely false. There is no evidence that Jain received any bribe money. The arrest is completely illegal," he said.

The Delhi Jal Board corruption case

The anti-corruption branch, in a statement, said the Directorate of Vigilance had filed a complaint regarding large-scale irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions and criminal conspiracy in the tendering process relating to the upgradation of sewage treatment plants of the Delhi Jal Board. It said that in its investigation, it was revealed that the tendering process allegedly involved restrictive technical specifications and conditions favouring a specific technology provider - Euroteck Environment Pvt Ltd.

It alleged that a proposed pilot study was not conducted, restrictive conditions were put in place and some essential parameters related to the treated effluent were excluded.

"The investigation also revealed that Udit Prakash Rai, the then CEO of DJB, received a bribe to the tune of Rs 1.52 crore in his and his relatives' bank accounts through banking channels from M/s AN Enterprises, a proprietorship concern of Nagendra Yadav, and that the said amount was allegedly utilised for purchase of immovable property," the Anti-Corruption Branch said.

Along with Jain and Rai, former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava, proprietor M/s AN Enterprises Nagendra Yadav, owner of M/2 Euroteck Environment Pvt Ltd Raja Kumar Kurra, and proprietor M/s Srijanhar Pankaj Verma were also arrested in the case.

AAP hits out

AAP hit out at Jain's arrest and called the move "political".

"How many more proofs are needed that the BJP is scared of the AAP? At the time of that Jal Board tender, Satyendar ji was in jail. How did he become responsible from jail? The real reason is that Satyendar Jain is the AAP co-in-charge of Punjab and elections are coming up there," AAP National Media In-charge Anurag Dhanda wrote on X. 

AAP chief and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was also jailed in connection with the liquor policy case, said the arrest was carried out on the orders of the BJP. "Satyendar Jain has once again been arrested at the behest of the BJP. Everyone still remembers the ordeal they put him through by throwing him in jail a short time ago. The previous case was fabricated, and this case will also be proven fake," he wrote in Hindi.