AAP Leader Satyendar Jain Arrested In Corruption Case Linked To Delhi Jal Board

Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi water minister Satyendar Jain, who spent 18 months in prison in a money laundering case, has been arrested for allegedly being involved in the manipulation of a tender process at the Delhi Jal Board.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Anti-Corruption Branch in Delhi 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 (DJB). Six people were arrested after investigation, it said, including Udit Prakash Rai, a former CEO of the DJB. 

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Minutes after the arrest came to light, the AAP termed the move political and said Satyendar Jain was in jail when the alleged irregularities occurred. 

"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 imprisoned 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. 

Former Delhi BJP chief Virendraa Sachdeva said the AAP had looted Delhi and its "real face" had been revealed.

"The real face of those who looted Delhi has been exposed. The Anti-Corruption Branch has arrested Satyendar Jain in a case of irregularities and corruption in the Delhi Jal Board STP tender scam. Tender tampering and crores in bribes - this was AAP's 'honest' model. They sought votes in the name of water and cleanliness, and then engaged in corruption," he said.

The Anti-Corruption Branch said its investigation had revealed that the tendering process allegedly involved restrictive technical specifications and conditions favouring a specific technology provider - Euroteck Environment Pvt Ltd. 

It said a proposed pilot study was not conducted, restrictive conditions were put in place and some essential parameters related to the treated effluent were excluded. Intermediaries like M/s Srijanhar and M/s AN Enterprises were allegedly used to route funds. 

"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. 

The six arrested people are Jain; Rai; Ankit Srivastava, former contractual consultant, Delhi Jal Board; Nagendra Yadav, proprietor, M/s AN Enterprises; Raja Kumar Kurra, owner, Euroteck Environment Pvt Ltd; and Pankaj Verma, proprietor, M/s Srijanhar.

Earlier Case

Satyendar Jain, who held several portfolios between 2015 and 2023, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in May 2022. He was granted interim bail and released on medical grounds in May 2023. He was jailed again, for about six months, before getting regular bail and leaving jail in October 2024.

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He was granted bail soon after Kejriwal and fellow AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia got similar relief. Sisodia was also in jail in connection with the liquor policy case.