The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has conducted searches at various places in Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad in connection with the alleged corruption in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The ED probe is based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi against Euroteck Environmental Private Limited. The searches were carried out on July 3, the agency said.
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Condemning the ED action, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi, in a statement, said, “What the ED does, against whom it works, on whose orders it works, is well known. In this country, everyone has seen the ‘washing machine’ of the BJP... ”. The AAP leader said, “They [the ED] have been investigating the ‘liquor scam’ for two years, they did not find anything. They were probing the construction of classrooms... Mohalla Clinics, they did not find anything there. AAP has never done corruption of even a rupee, nor will it ever do. They can do as much investigation as they want against us.”
Alleged irregularities
The ED has alleged a scam in the DJB in the name of augmentation and upgrade of 10 sewage treatment plants. They are in Delhi’s Pappan Kalan, Nilothi, Najafgarh, Keshopur, Coronation Pillar, Narela, Rohini, and Kondli.
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The four tenders worth ₹1,943 crore were awarded to various joint venture (JV) entities in October 2022. The FIR alleges that only three JV firms participated in all the four tenders. While two of them got one tender each, one was allotted two tenders. It is alleged that the entities participated in the tenders mutually to ensure that each one got the tender. The FIR also alleges that the tendering conditions were made restrictive, including the adoption of integrated fixed film activated sludge technology, to ensure that selected few entities could participate.
“The cost estimates initially prepared was ₹1,546 crore but was revised during the tender process to ₹1,943 crore. It is alleged that the contracts were awarded to three JVs at inflated rates which caused a substantive loss to the exchequer,” the ED said.
The agency said its probe revealed that there were irregularities related to the costs for the upgrade and augmentation of the water treatment plants. It also found that the three JVs had allegedly submitted the same experience certificate, issued from a Taiwan project, to the DJB for securing the tenders and the same was accepted without any verification. “Thereafter, all the three JVs subcontracted the work related to the four tenders to Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad… During the search, about ₹41 lakh in cash, various incriminating documents, and digital evidence were found and seized,” it said.