NEW DELHI: The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has summoned former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and ex-PWD minister Satyendra Jain in connection with alleged corruption in construction of classrooms in government schools, officials said on Wednesday.
Jain has been asked to appear on June 6, while Sisodia has been summoned on June 9, they said.
In April, the ACB registered a case against the AAP leaders alleging corruption in construction of classrooms at exorbitant costs. According to the ACB, a scam of Rs 2,000 crore unearthed in the construction of 12,748 classrooms/buildings during the tenure of the AAP government in Delhi.
The complaints from Harish Khurana, Delhi BJP spokesperson, MLA Kapil Mishra, and BJP’s media relations department’s Neelkanth Bakshi, were received regarding corruption in construction of around 12,748 school classrooms at an expenditure of Rs 2,892 crore.
The cost for constructing a school room, as per the awarded tenders, was around Rs 24.86 lakh, while such a room could be made for Rs 5 lakh. Further, it was alleged that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, majority of whom are allegedly associated with AAP, JCP (ACB) Madhur Verma had said.
It was decided in meetings of the expenditure finance committee for 2015-16 that the project would be completed by June 2016 at the sanctioned cost without any scope for future cost escalations. But not even a single work was completed within the prescribed time and significant cost escalations were observed, Verma said.
"When the Aam Aadmi Party held power in Delhi, the BJP systematically defanged the ACB to strip it of any real authority. Today, they are using the same weakened institution as a tool to target AAP leaders and further their own agenda," AAP said in a statement.
The BJP came to power after nearly 26 years in Delhi following the February polls.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the BJP has no intention of governing -- their entire five-year plan seems to revolve around targeting us, abusing us, and somehow running a government on lies and vendetta," it said.
