A Delhi court taken cognizance against Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, in a money laundering case related to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
NEW DELHI: Today (3rd April): The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi takes cognizance filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tender money laundering case. The AAP Government has already seen several senior leaders, including Kejriwal himself, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh, being arrested in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy.
Special CBI Judge Bhupinder Singh, while reading out the order, stated
Based on the material presented, it appears that all the accused individuals and companies have either directly or indirectly been involved in activities related to money laundering or concealing the proceeds of crime. The court found sufficient material to proceed against the accused as mentioned in the complaint filed by the ED.
The ED was represented by SPP Manish Jain and Advocate Ishan Baisla before Special CBI Judge Bhupinder Singh. On the other hand, Advocate Nagesh Kumar Behl represented the accused contractor.
Advocate Behl argued before the court that the ED’s intervention could only be justified if there was a scheduled offense, which, in this case, was solely based on an FIR filed by the CBI. Behl also alleged that the ED had intentionally misled the court by omitting the dates of alleged transactions with Arora.
The court summoned all the accused who were not arrested during the probe on April 4. Additionally, a warrant has been issued for the accused arrested in the case to be presented before the court the following day.
Background
The case investigated by the ED revolves around allegations of money laundering in the process of awarding a tender by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The chargesheet filed by the ED names individuals such as Jagdish Arora, Anil Aggarwal, and chartered accountant Tajendra Singh.
During the investigation, it was revealed that M/S NKG Infrastructure Ltd. secured the bid by submitting forged or false documents. Jagdish Kumar Arora, reportedly aware of the company’s lack of technical eligibility, was involved in the process.
Furthermore, the ED found that M/S NKG Infrastructure Ltd. subcontracted the work to M/S Integral Screws Ltd., a proprietorship firm owned by Anil Kumar Aggarwal.
The ED also highlighted that out of the Rs. 24 crore payment received by the DJB, only around Rs. 14 crore was used for the contract work, while the rest was misappropriated or used for bribes.
Additionally, Jagdish Kumar Arora was alleged to have received a bribe of Rs. 3.19 crore, a portion of which was transferred to other Delhi Jal Board officials and used as election funds for the AAP.
READ ALSO: BREAKING | CJI Assures AAP Govt. | Rs 3,000 Crore Funds for DJB Can Be Released
The court’s order is that there is sufficient material to proceed against the accused individuals and companies.
