 "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (right), with Deputy Chief Minister & Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, leaves for the Budget session of the Assembly, in New Delhi, on Monday")
In a separate tweet, Dinesh Gupta, a businessman who got several contracts with the help of top Delhi bureaucrat Rajendra Kumar, alleged he was under pressure from the CBI to become approver.
Kumar, principal secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested on Monday by the CBI on charges of corruption. Kejriwal had gone to great lengths to secure Kumar’s services as his PS. Although the CBI sought 10 days’ custody of Kumar, on the ground that there was evidence of cheating and forgery in addition to corruption, the court asked why the agency had waited if charges had been framed in December last year. It gave CBI five days’ custody. The CBI had registered a case against Kumar and others in December 2015 alleging that the officer had abused his official position by “favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders of Delhi government departments”. The investigative agency alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015, and claimed that the officials had taken “undue benefit” of nearly Rs 3 crore while awarding the contract.
“The main target is Arvind Kejriwal in this (Rajendra Kumar's arrest). They want to paralyse the government. You are targeting all the officers without permission, not allowing anyone to grow. Rajendra Kumar is just an excuse; the main target is Arvind Kejriwal,” said AAP leader Ashutosh. “They are not allowing the AAP to function in Delhi. Modiji is scared that if the AAP wins in Punjab and Goa, then there will be no stand of the BJP in this country. The fear is leading them to do all this," he added.
He dared the central government to produce evidence against Kumar. “If they have evidence against Rajendra Kumar, then where was this evidence these past six months?... How come all of a sudden there is evidence? They are making baseless allegations,” he said.
It is quite clear that the arrest of Kumar is going to be a prestige issue with the AAP. The matter has been turned into a battle of wills with Kejriwal announcing he will be in Delhi on July 17 and will spend much of the day interacting with Delhi residents on their problems.
However, how the AAP will turn this issue to its advantage remains to be seen.
According to CBI sources, Kumar has been charged with abusing his official position to award contracts to Endeavour Systems and securing government tenders worth Rs 9.5 crore between 2007 and 2014 for the company. Kumar has been booked under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
CBI sources add Kumar has emerged as the kingpin of the scam.
The matter came to light via an anonymous letter sent to anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International India, which forwarded it to the CBI, Central Vigilance Commission, the Prime Minister, the President and the chief minister of Delhi. The three-page hand-written letter, obviously by a whistleblower, urged the government to find out from the Registrar of Companies why all the companies which had got contracts of computer software and hardware had the same address.
Kumar had moved an appeal before a special court in March this year seeking the release of his laptop, iPad and cash seized by the CBI. A trial court had in April also ordered the de-freezing of two bank accounts of Endeavour Systems. The Delhi High Court had then stayed the trial court's order allowing de-freezing of accounts of Endeavour Systems.
The CBI had in December last year raided Kumar's office at the Delhi Secretariat in connection with this case.
