New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court issued production warrants for Udit Prakash Rai, former CEO of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), and Nagendra Yadav. They will be produced before the court on August 29. They are currently in judicial custody.
They have been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in the alleged DJB STP tender scam case. Former Delhi Minister Satyender Jain has also been arrested in this case.
Duty Judge Neha Paliwal Sharma issued warrants for the production of Udit Prakash Rai and Nagendra Yadav after hearing the application of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in the DJB STP tender scam case.
Meanwhile, Pankaj Verma has been remanded to judicial custody by the court until September 3. He was produced before the court after two days of police custody.
Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Manish Rawat appeared for the ACB and moved applications for the issuance of a production warrant and judicial custody.
On August 25, the court remanded Pankaj Verma to two days of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) custody for interrogation. He has been arrested in the alleged Delhi Jal Board (DJB) STP tender scam case. Verma is the proprietor of the firm Srijanhar Enterprises.
While granting police custody, the court had stated that his police custody was indeed necessary for a fair investigation; his custodial interrogation is also necessary to unearth other aspects of the conspiracy, including other persons involved.
The present FIR originated from a vigilance reference of May 10, 2024, from the Directorate of Vigilance, GNCTD, alleging a corruption scam involving hundreds of crores of rupees in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The allegations pertain to the tendering process and the subsequent award of contracts for the augmentation and upgradation of ten (10) Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) across Delhi. Those 10 STPs were divided into 4 blocks/packages, with a total tendered value of approximately Rs 1,943 crores.
It is alleged that public servants from the DJB were in league with private contractors, technology providers, and intermediaries, manipulating tender conditions, inflating cost estimates, and diluting environmental standards to ensure that the contracts were awarded to a select cartel, resulting in wrongful loss to the public exchequer and wrongful gains to the private entities.
While seeking two days of custody for accused Pankaj Verma, Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat submitted that his detailed interrogation is required to ascertain the purpose of the incorporation of M/s Srijanhar Enterprises; to examine the agreement between his proprietorship concern and Eurotech as to which products were to be sold and marketed; and to clarify and ascertain the aspect of the claim of a loan by Srijanhar to Dhanvine Engineering.
It was also submitted that Verma's custody is required to ascertain the utilisation of Rs 1.22 crores received by M/s Dhanvine, which were actually received by Srijanhar from Eurotech; the purpose of the transfer of Rs 81 lakhs to Vinod Chauhan; and the purpose of the transfer of Rs 43 lakhs from Dhanvine to the firm of Nagendra Yadav.
The ACB also said that custodial interrogation is required to ascertain the actual quantum of loss caused to the government, which officials were involved in the offence, and to ascertain and obtain the details of the products and services claimed to be supplied by Srijanhar.
The custody remand application was opposed by the defence counsel on the ground that accused Pankaj Verma was not named as an individual in the original FIR of the present case, and his firm was not named either.
It was contended that his firm, Srijanhar Enterprises, entered into a valid written supervision services agreement with Eurotech, and that he personally undertook on-site technical supervision at the STP sites where the work was performed.
The defence counsel asserted that documented business outflows like salaries, labour payments, etc., exceed the amount alleged to have been dissipated, and that the transfer of Rs 1.22 crores to Dhanvine was a legitimate, interest-free, unsecured director's loan advanced for ordinary business purposes, which was also disclosed in Dhanvine's financial statements. (ANI)
DJB STP tender scam case: Court issues production warrants for former DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai, Nagendra Yadav
