DJB scam: Court reserves order on Satyendar Jain's bail plea till Sep 3

The Rouse Avenue court reserved its order for September 3 on the bail plea of ex-Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in the DJB tender scam case. His lawyers argued for bail, citing cooperation, while the ACB opposed it, calling the probe nascent.

The Rouse Avenue court reserved an order on the bail application of former Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain for September 3. The AAP leader was arrested in the alleged Delhi Jal Board Sewage Treatment Plant tender scam case.

Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh heard the arguments on the bail application of Satyendar Jain and reserved the order. Jain was present during the hearing. The other three accused, namely Pankaj Verma, Udit Prakash Rai and Raj Kumar Kurra, were also present during the hearing. The court allowed Udit Prakash Rai's request for his production through video conferencing on September 3. He submitted that he has some health issues and he has claustrophobia.

Arguments for Bail

During the arguments, Senior Advocate N Hariharan along with Advocate Vivek Jain submitted that Satyendar Jain had been arrested by ACB after 27 months of registration of the FIR in May 2024. Senior Advocate Hariharan further submitted that there is no necessity of arrest as Jain always cooperated with the investigation. It was also submitted that ACB registered the FIR on the basis of information provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), despite there being no link of proceeds of crime connected to Satyender Jain in the money laundering case. Senior advocate also submitted that the augmentation was from 15 to 25 MGD. The decision was taken on the basis of the recommendation of the technical committee. The peak capacity was 30 MGD. He further submitted that this case is related to policy decision-making and the courts are not expected to enter into the area of policy matters. The accused's presence can be ensured by imposing conditions. He is not at a flight risk. In ED's case, no accused was arrested, senior counsel submitted.

Prosecution Opposes Bail

ACB's public prosecutor Manish Rawat, while opposing the bail plea, said that the investigation at the initial stage. It should be considered at the time of grant of bail. It was also submitted by the ACB that Jain was non-cooperative during the investigation. The public prosecutor submitted that the investigation is pending, and there was evidence against the accused.

Defense Rebuttal

Senior Advocate Hariharan rebutted that what the Investigating Officer submitted is in relation to the policy. The documents the ACB is referring to were received from the ED. The investigation is not at the initial stage as it is ongoing since May 2024. He further submitted that the issuance of the corrigendum is related to the policy decision taken by the person involved. The corrigendum was issued when Satyendar Jain was in custody. Senior advocate Hariharan said that the case does not attract the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Details of the Alleged Scam

Jain and five other accused persons have been arrested in an alleged case of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) STP Tender scam. All accused are in judicial custody till September 3.

It is alleged that the investigation revealed that the technical proposal for the augmentation of the Rohini STP from 15 MGD to 25 MGD was altered by the then-Minister, who approved an enhancement to 30 MGD without any technical recommendation or feasibility study. Similarly, the Rohini and Narela STPs were included in the project, while the Okhla Phase-V STP was excluded, resulting in an estimated cost escalation of approximately Rs 123 crore. The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) contends that these arbitrary decisions by Minister (Jain) were taken without adequate technical justification. (ANI)

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