Delhi Court Grants Bail to AAP Leader Satyendar Jain in Jal Board Tender Case
NEW DELHI: In a significant legal development, a Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in connection with an Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) case involving alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) sewage treatment plant (STP) tender process.
Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh, who presided over the hearing, directed Jain to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 2 lakh along with two sureties to secure his release.
Arguments for Defense
During the proceedings, where Jain was produced physically before the court, his legal counsel, Senior Advocate N. Hariharan, maintained that the charges against the former minister were baseless. The defense argued that the tenders in question were floated in October 2022—a period during which Jain was already in judicial custody in connection with a separate money laundering case.
Furthermore, the defense asserted that there is no credible evidence linking Jain to the specific tender process under scrutiny. Arguing for his release, Hariharan emphasized that the investigative agency had already gathered all necessary evidence and that there was no requirement for his continued incarceration in this particular matter.
The ACB’s Allegations
The case against Jain and other officials stems from a probe into the alleged manipulation of tender documents for the augmentation of sewage treatment plants. The Anti-Corruption Branch has alleged that the technical proposal for the Rohini STP was arbitrarily altered, with the capacity increased from 15 MGD to 30 MGD without the required feasibility studies or technical recommendations.
The ACB further claims that the project underwent significant changes, including the inclusion of the Rohini and Narela STPs and the exclusion of Okhla Phase-V, which reportedly resulted in a cost escalation of approximately Rs 123 crore.
Additionally, investigators have alleged that a “2% commission deal” was orchestrated during meetings held in December 2022. The agency claims that an intermediary, Nagendra Yadav, facilitated communication between DJB officials and representatives of the firm Euroteck. Prosecutors also allege that mandatory environmental parameters set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) were intentionally diluted in the tender documents to provide an unfair competitive advantage to the technology provider.
The court’s decision to grant bail follows a prolonged legal battle surrounding the AAP leader, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing investigations into the Delhi Jal Board’s financial and administrative operations.
