Atishi alleges 'witch-hunt' as ACB books Satyendar Jain; BJP claims Rs 7 cr bribe

A political tussle has erupted after the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi government registered an FIR against former PWD minister and senior AAP leader Satyendar Jain over alleged corruption in a Rs 571 crore CCTV project.

While senior AAP leader Atishi called it a case of "political witch-hunt", Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva accused Jain of accepting a bribe of Rs 7 crore.

In a post on X, former Delhi chief minister Atishi said, "When investigating agencies leave their work and start political witch-hunting on the orders of the boss..."

She also shared a document highlighting a reply by the BJP-led Centre in Parliament, which claimed that out of the 193 cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against political leaders in the past 10 years, only two resulted in convictions.

In a video post on X, Sachdeva alleged that the previous government led by Arvind Kejriwal covered up the corruption case for years.

"In 2017-18, the Kejriwal government awarded a contract of Rs 571 crore to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for installing CCTV cameras in Delhi. Due to delays, a penalty of Rs 16 crore was imposed in 2019 but Satyendar Jain waived it after taking Rs 7 crore bribe. The ACB completed its investigation in 2023 but the FIR was delayed due to AAP's cover-up act," Sachdeva claimed.

The FIR against Jain was filed on Tuesday after the ACB obtained sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act from the competent authority.

Joint Commissioner of Police (ACB), Madhur Verma, said Jain is accused of "arbitrarily" waiving the Rs 16 crore fine imposed on BEL despite complaints that several cameras were non-functional at the time of handover.

The case has added to Jain's legal troubles.

On March 2, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed a special court that it had secured approval from the Delhi lieutenant governor to prosecute Jain in a disproportionate assets case.

The ED had arrested Jain in a money-laundering case linked to alleged hawala transactions in May 2022. He was granted bail in October 2024.

Jain, who was a key AAP leader and minister in the previous government, faced a political setback in the recent Assembly elections in Delhi, losing the Shakur Basti seat to BJP's Karnail Singh by nearly 21,000 votes.

The BJP also claimed a landslide victory in Delhi, securing 48 out of 70 seats, leaving AAP with just 22.