Delhi's AAP Leaders Face Corruption Allegations Over Classroom Construction

Corruption Case Summons for AAP Leaders

In a significant development, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government has summoned prominent AAP figures, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, regarding alleged corruption linked to the construction of classrooms in government schools. An official confirmed this news on Wednesday.

Satyendar Jain is expected to appear before the ACB on June 6, while Manish Sisodia has been called for questioning on June 9.

These summons follow the registration of an FIR by the ACB on April 30, which was based on claims of financial misconduct amounting to approximately Rs 2,000 crore in the building of over 12,000 classrooms or semi-permanent structures within Delhi's government schools.

According to officials, Sisodia, who previously managed the finance and education sectors in the AAP government, and Jain, who oversaw the public works department among other ministries, are being interrogated due to concerns raised by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

Joint Commissioner of Police (ACB) Madhur Verma stated, "The CVC's Chief Technical Examiner's report highlighted several discrepancies in the project, which reportedly went unaddressed for nearly three years."

The FIR was filed after receiving authorization under Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act from the appropriate authority, Verma noted.

In 2019, BJP leaders Kapil Mishra, Harish Khurana, and Neelkant Bakshi lodged a complaint with the ACB, alleging significant financial irregularities in the classroom construction across three zones in Delhi.

The complaint indicated that the average expenditure per classroom was estimated at Rs 24.86 lakh, which is considerably higher than the projected Rs 5 lakh cost for similar structures.

An investigation is currently in progress, and further actions will be determined based on the results of the ongoing inquiry.