Latest news with #ManishSisodia
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Classroom ‘scam': ACB summons Sisodia, AAP claims diversion tactic
New Delhi: Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday alleged that BJP was using FIRs as a distraction tactic to hide its own failures in governance. Sisodia was called by the anti-corruption branch in a case related to alleged corruption in the construction of classrooms in state-run schools and was questioned for nearly three years. The former deputy chief minister, who had also the education department in AAP govt when the tenders for the construction of classrooms were floated, alleged that BJP was using investigations to divert attention. "Just like all previous probes led to nowhere, this one will also come to nothing," Sisodia said. He claimed that the ruling party had "failed" to do any "meaningful work" in Delhi since assuming office in Feb and "wasted" 100 days "without improving electricity, water, education or healthcare". "BJP, driven by political vendetta, is misusing its agencies to register FIRs in cases where there is no wrongdoing. This is a completely politically motivated case. In the last 10 years, BJP has used every agency to dig into the lives of AAP leaders, yet found nothing. All they do is file fake FIRs and keep dragging the matter. Nothing came out of it earlier, and nothing will come out of it now," he said. Asserting that the accusations had no basis, the AAP functionary said BJP MP Manoj Tiwari levelled allegations against him in the matter. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Pedro Carbo: Inicia hoy con Amazon CFD y construye un segundo ingreso. InvestIQ Registrarse Undo "I filed a defamation case against him. He is out on bail in the defamation case," Sisodia said. Addressing a press conference, former CM and senior AAP functionary Atishi also termed it as a "fake" case. "In the past ten years, over 200 cases have been filed by BJP-controlled agencies against AAP leaders. But despite extensive investigations, raids and examination of files by ED, CBI, Delhi Police and ACB, not a single rupee of corruption has been recovered from any AAP leader," Atishi said. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that during their time in office, AAP leaders never provided the requested information to the investigating agencies, which resulted in the probe progressing very slowly. "Now that the BJP is in power in Delhi, the investigative agencies are receiving full cooperation, and not only Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, but several other AAP leaders will soon land in jail," Sachdeva claimed.
New Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Over 300 mule account passbooks seized in ED raids linked to Delhi classroom 'scam'
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized more than 300 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts opened in the names of labourers, allegedly used for diverting Delhi government funds sourced from the classroom-construction 'scam' during the previous AAP regime, officials said on Friday. It is to be noted here that ED officials conducted searches in connection with the case at 37 locations across Delhi on June 18. The AAP termed the move a 'desperate' attempt to divert public attention and asserted that the allegations against its leaders were 'politically motivated'. The ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which is equivalent to a police FIR, under criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This was based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi on 30 April against AAP leaders and former ministers in the cabinet of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, including Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and a few others. Later, in a statement, a copy of which is with this newspaper, the ED said its officials had 'unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of a private contractor'. It said, 'Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD).'
Hans India
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Classroom case: ED raids 37 locations in Delhi, seizes 322 bank passbooks
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Delhi Zonal Office conducted search operations at 37 locations across the national Capital under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in the Delhi classroom construction irregularities case and recovered digital evidence and 322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts opened in the names of labourers, allegedly to divert government funds. "During the searches, original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and rubber stamps of officials of Public Works Department (PWD), various incriminating documents showing fake invoices submitted to GNCTD departments, showing inflated/bogus claims, digital evidence and 322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts opened in the names of labourers to divert government funds were recovered and seized", said an ED Press statement on Friday. It is pertinent to note here that the ED initiated this investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on April 30, alleging irregularities in the construction of 12,748 classrooms or semi-permanent structures in government schools. On April 30, the ACB registered a FIR against senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers Manish Sisodia (the then Education Minister) and Satyendar Jain (the then Public Works Department minister) and others, over alleged corruption in the construction of classrooms. The FIR was pertaining to financial misappropriation exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of approximately 12,748 additional classrooms by the PWD, between 2015 and 2023. Notably, Manish Sisodia on Friday was questioned for nearly three hours by the ACB over the same case. The former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi left the ACB's office at around 2.40 P.M. after appearing before investigators around noon. While the former education minister accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing investigative agencies for political vendetta, the ACB said that the scam involved inflated costs in the construction of classrooms and school buildings under the Delhi government.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
ED seizes Delhi govt files, over 300 passbooks in classroom 'scam' searches
More than 300 passbooks, linked to mule bank accounts opened in the names of labourers, have been seized through which Delhi government funds sourced from the classroom-construction "scam" during the previous AAP regime were "diverted", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday (June 20, 2025). The federal probe agency conducted searches in connection with the case at 37 locations in Delhi on June 18. The AAP had termed the ED action a "desperate" attempt to divert public attention and asserted that the allegations against its leaders were "politically motivated". Also Read | Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain summoned over ₹2,000 crore 'scam' in classroom construction The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi on April 30 against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and former Ministers in the Cabinet of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal — Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and some others. Sisodia, 53, held the finance and education portfolios in the previous AAP government in the national capital and Mr. Jain, 60, was in-charge of the public works department and some other ministries. An ED statement said the agency officials have "unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of a private contractor". "Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD)," it said. The officials also found that "322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts (used for transacting illicit funds) opened in the names of labourers used to divert government funds under the guise of legitimate transactions". Some "forged" letterheads of private contractors and shell entities, which were used to generate fake procurement records and fictitious purchase bills, were also seized during the raids. The ED said the case pertains to financial "misappropriation" exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of 12,748 additional classrooms by the PWD between 2015 and 2023. Despite an initial requirement for 2,405 classrooms, the project scope was "arbitrarily" increased to 7,180 equivalent classrooms and, subsequently, to 12,748 rooms "without" proper sanction or approvals, resulting in "massive" cost escalations, the agency said. It said there was an "unjustified" adoption of richer specifications proposed by the executing company named Babbar and Babbar Associates and execution of duplicate and inflated works. "Cost escalations of up to 49.03% were observed across priority-I and priority-II phases," it said. The agency also claimed to have found "several dummy firms during the searches, which had no real infrastructure, documentation or operational legitimacy, but were shown to have received substantial payments for construction activities relating to the additional classrooms". The AAP said on June 18 that the "so-called raids are nothing but a desperate attempt to divert public attention from the reality. The allegations are baseless, politically motivated and timed only to distract from the BJP's anti-people actions". Mr. Sisodia and Mr. Jain have been questioned by the ACB in the case. The ACB FIR came about after alleged lapses in the case were flagged by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like Kapil Mishra, Harish Khurana and Neelkant Bakshi had, in 2019, filed a complaint with the ACB alleging serious financial irregularities in the construction of classrooms across three zones of Delhi. The ACB alleged that the total expenditure incurred on the project amounted to Rs 2,892 crore, pushing the per-classroom cost to Rs 24.86 lakh, compared to the estimated Rs 5 lakh under standard norms. It claimed that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, most of whom were allegedly linked to the AAP.
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Business Standard
9 hours ago
- Business Standard
ED seizes 322 mule accounts, dummy firms in ₹2K cr 'Delhi classroom scam'
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), during its search operations on June 18, 2025, at 37 locations across Delhi under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the 'Delhi Classroom Construction Scam', recovered 322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts opened in the names of labourers and used to divert government funds under the guise of legitimate transactions. 'Furthermore, forged letterheads of various private contractors and shell entities, which were used to generate fake procurement records and fictitious purchase bills, were found and seized. Evidence relating to fake invoices submitted to Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) departments, showing inflated or entirely bogus claims, was found and seized,' said an ED press statement. The ED initiated investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch, GNCTD, against Manish Sisodia (the then education minister), Satyendar Jain (the then public works department minister), and others pertaining to financial misappropriation exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of approximately 12,748 additional classrooms by the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of NCT of Delhi, between 2015 and 2023. The ED further said that several dummy firms were found during the search which had no real infrastructure, documentation or operational legitimacy, but were shown to have received substantial payments for construction activities relating to the additional classrooms. 'Additionally, substantial incriminating documents and digital evidence have been recovered and seized during the search,' said the ED. 'Despite an initial requirement for 2,405 classrooms, the project scope was arbitrarily increased to 7,180 equivalent classrooms, and subsequently to 12,748 rooms without proper sanction or approvals, resulting in massive cost escalations,' said the ED press statement. The ED further said that there was unjustified adoption of richer specifications proposed by M/s Babbar & Babbar Associates, and execution of duplicate and inflated works. Cost escalations of up to 49.03 per cent were observed across Priority-I and Priority-II phases. During the operation, the investigative agency unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of private contractors. 'Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD),' said the ED.
