The Delhi ACB arrested former minister Satyendar Jain, ex-DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai and four others over alleged corruption in the Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant tender process.
New Delhi: The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Government of NCT of Delhi on Tuesday arrested six persons, including former Delhi Water Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Kumar Jain and former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Chief Executive Officer Udit Prakash Rai (IAS), in connection with alleged corruption in the tendering process for the augmentation and upgradation of the DJB’s sewage treatment plants (STPs).
The arrests were made in connection with FIR No. 10/2024 dated May 11, 2024, registered under Sections 7, 7A, 9 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), read with Sections 420, 409, 418 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, at the Police Station Anti-Corruption Branch, GNCTD.
The accused
Alongside Jain and Rai, the ACB arrested Ankit Srivastava, a former contractual consultant with the Delhi Jal Board, and three private persons, Nagendra Yadav, proprietor of M/s AN Enterprises; Raja Kumar Kurra, owner of M/s Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd.; and Pankaj Verma, proprietor of M/s Srijanhar.
The allegations
According to the ACB, the case was registered on a complaint by the Directorate of Vigilance, GNCTD, alleging large-scale irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions and criminal conspiracy in the tendering process relating to the STPs.
The agency has alleged that during the investigation, it found that restrictive technical specifications and conditions were introduced into the tender in a manner that favoured a particular technology provider M/s Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd. thereby, on the ACB’s case, restricting competition and providing an undue advantage to the private entity. The agency has further alleged that a proposed pilot study was not conducted, that restrictive conditions relating to the technology and media to be used were included, that essential parameters concerning treated effluent were excluded, and that the technical specifications were subsequently altered.
The ACB has said that an analysis of electronic evidence allegedly revealed communication between private persons, intermediaries and public servants regarding the tender conditions, which were later incorporated into the Jal Board’s tender notice. It has also alleged that it tracked a money trail with around ₹1.52 crore said to have been transferred, through intermediaries, to the bank accounts of the former DJB CEO and his relatives, allegedly for the purchase of immovable property.
The agency said that after questioning all six accused on the basis of documentary, electronic and financial evidence gathered during the investigation, they were arrested on August 18, 2026. It added that the investigation is continuing.
These are the allegations of the investigating agency, and they remain to be established. None of the accused has been convicted, and no charge has yet been tested before a court.
The parallel ED case
The ACB’s FIR is not the only proceeding arising from the STP contracts. The Enforcement Directorate has separately been investigating the same matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and has filed a chargesheet in connection with alleged irregularities in the modernisation of ten sewage treatment plants. In that parallel case, the ED has alleged the payment of bribes routed through banking channels and cash and the generation of proceeds of crime allegations that, like those of the ACB, are yet to be tested. The ED had also earlier attached properties linked to firms associated with the case.
Background: Jain’s custody history
Tuesday’s arrest adds to a long series of proceedings involving Jain. He was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022 in a separate money-laundering case linked to alleged transactions involving companies associated with him, and spent an extended period in custody before the Rouse Avenue Court granted him bail in October 2024, citing the delay in trial and his prolonged incarceration. He has since also faced questioning in other matters, including an alleged graft case relating to the construction of classrooms in government schools.
Throughout, Jain has denied wrongdoing, and the AAP has consistently characterised the cases against its leaders as politically motivated.
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The political reaction
The arrest drew a sharp political response. AAP national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders alleged that the case was a politically motivated conspiracy, contending that the tender in question dated to October 2022 — a period when, they pointed out, Jain was already in jail in the earlier money-laundering case and was a Minister without portfolio. The party linked the timing of the arrest to the forthcoming Punjab elections, noting that Jain is a co-in-charge of the AAP’s organisation in that State.
The characterisations on both sides the agency’s allegations of corruption and the party’s allegations of political vendetta remain contested, and the matter is now at the stage of investigation and arrest, with the accused entitled to the presumption of innocence.