Delhi Government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and former PWD minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday over alleged corruption in the construction of classrooms. According to the ACB, the alleged scam, pegged at around Rs 2,000 crore, pertains to the construction of 12,748 classrooms and associated buildings and involved awarding contracts at highly-inflated rates with classrooms in government-run schools reportedly built at Rs 24.86 lakh each, nearly five times the usual cost during the AAP government’s tenure.
Both AAP leaders are currently on bail in separate cases. Sisodia has been booked in a case related to alleged irregularities in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy and Jain in a money laundering case. The case was registered after the ACB received the necessary sanction under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act from the competent authority.
The project was allegedly awarded to contractors linked with the Aam Aadmi Party when Sisodia served as the education minister and Jain as the PWD minister.
Reacting to this, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva demanded that the ACB investigate 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. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the case against its leaders Sisodia and Jain was registered to “pressure and scare” them as they were recently appointed as in-charge and co-incharge of the Punjab party unit.
“The BJP has no intention of doing any meaningful governance for the coming 5 years — they’re only interested in theatrics. One day it’s a case, the next a raid. It is no coincidence that as soon as Durgesh Pathak is appointed as Sah-Prabhari of Gujarat, an FIR is registered against him and his house is raided. The moment Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are given roles in Punjab, fresh FIRs appear against them,” it said.
According to ACB officials, the project involved the construction of approximately 12,748 classrooms and school buildings across the national capital, which saw “significant financial irregularities, deviations and cost escalations”.
The project was initially approved at a sanctioned cost with the condition that it would be completed by June 2016 and without scope for future escalation. However, not a single work was completed within the prescribed timeline, the anti-graft body alleged in the statement.
Complaints regarding the alleged scam were received from BJP leaders Harish Khurana, Kapil Mishra and Neelkanth Bakshi.
It was alleged that the total expenditure incurred on the project amounted to Rs 2,892 crore, pushing the per-classroom cost to Rs 24.86 lakh, compared to the estimated Rs 5 lakh per room under standard norms. “Investigations revealed that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, most of whom are allegedly linked to AAP.
The construction involved Semi-Permanent Structures (SPS) with an expected lifespan of 30 years, yet costs matched those of Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) structures which typically last up to 75 years. “Officials noted that the adoption of SPS construction did not result in any financial benefit,” read the statement.
The ACB further claimed that the consultant and architect for the project were appointed without following due process. “The Chief Technical Examiner (CTE) of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had raised serious violations of various clauses in its report which highlighted gross violations of CPWD Works Manual 2014, GFR 2017, and CVC guidelines. However, the report was allegedly suppressed for nearly three years,” it added.
According to the ACB, the CTE report observed that the actual cost of SPS classrooms was nearly equivalent to that of permanent structures due to the adoption of richer specifications.
The cost per square foot for SPS classrooms was pegged at Rs 2,292, compared to Rs 2,044–2,416 per square foot for pucca model schools. This negated any financial advantage expected from using SPS. The initial tendered amount was Rs 860.63 crore, which later saw an escalation of 17 per cent to 90 per cent amounting to Rs 326.25 crore.
The anti-graft body said that of this, Rs 205.45 crore was directly attributed to richer specifications, comprising nearly 24 per cent of the original tender value. No fresh tenders were invited to reflect these changes, contrary to CVC guidelines.
In five schools, work worth Rs 42.5 crore was executed without proper tenders, using existing contracts, read the statement. A comprehensive investigation has been launched to unearth the whole conspiracy and fix the role and culpability of the AAP leaders, unknown government officials and contractors, it said.
