ED seizes Delhi govt files, over 300 passbooks in classroom ‘scam’ searches

More than 300 passbooks, linked to mule bank accounts opened in the names of labourers, have been seized through which Delhi government funds sourced from the classroom-construction “scam” during the previous AAP regime were “diverted”, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday.

The federal probe agency conducted searches in connection with the case at 37 locations in Delhi on June 18.

The AAP had termed the ED action a “desperate” attempt to divert public attention and asserted that the allegations against its leaders were “politically motivated”.

The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi on April 30 against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and former ministers in the cabinet of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal — Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and some others.

Sisodia, 53, held the finance and education portfolios in the previous AAP government in the national capital and Jain, 60, was in-charge of the public works department and some other ministries.

An ED statement said the agency officials have “unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of a private contractor”.

“Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD),” it said.

The officials also found that “322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts (used for transacting illicit funds) opened in the names of labourers used to divert government funds under the guise of legitimate transactions”.

Some “forged” letterheads of private contractors and shell entities, which were used to generate fake procurement records and fictitious purchase bills, were also seized during the raids.

The ED said the case pertains to financial “misappropriation” exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of 12,748 additional classrooms by the PWD between 2015 and 2023.

Despite an initial requirement for 2,405 classrooms, the project scope was “arbitrarily” increased to 7,180 equivalent classrooms and, subsequently, to 12,748 rooms “without” proper sanction or approvals, resulting in “massive” cost escalations, the agency said.

It said there was an “unjustified” adoption of richer specifications proposed by the executing company named Babbar and Babbar Associates and execution of duplicate and inflated works.

“Cost escalations of up to 49.03 per cent were observed across priority-I and priority-II phases,” it said.

The agency also claimed to have found “several dummy firms during the searches, which had no real infrastructure, documentation or operational legitimacy, but were shown to have received substantial payments for construction activities relating to the additional classrooms”.

The AAP said on June 18 that the “so-called raids are nothing but a desperate attempt to divert public attention from the reality. The allegations are baseless, politically motivated and timed only to distract from the BJP’s anti-people actions”.

Sisodia and Jain have been questioned by the ACB in the case.

Also Read: ED raids 37 locations in Rs 2,000 crore AAP era Delhi classroom construction ‘scam’

The ACB FIR came about after alleged lapses in the case were flagged by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like Kapil Mishra, Harish Khurana and Neelkant Bakshi had, in 2019, filed a complaint with the ACB alleging serious financial irregularities in the construction of classrooms across three zones of Delhi.

The ACB 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 under standard norms.

It claimed that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, most of whom were allegedly linked to the AAP.