Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registering a preliminary enquiry into alleged irregularities in the reconstruction of the former’s official residence in Civil Lines, arguing that the investigation was a sign of the PM’s nervousness .
The official residence of the Delhi chief minister at 6, Flag Staff Road in Civil Lines became the focal point of a political controversy in May after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that ₹44.78 crore were spent to renovate the building in violation of guidelines. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has rejected the charges, and said no rules were broken in the renovation of the bungalow that was direly needed. Kejriwal has lived at the address since 2015.
“You cannot expect better from a fourth-pass king. He is busy 24 hours in either inquiries or delivering speeches; he does not do any work. They want to break me; they want me to bow down before them. But I will not bow down,” Kejriwal said.
At a function at Tyagaraj stadium, he added that it was not the first time that a probe was launched against him and challenged Modi to resign if nothing came out of the CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the bungalow reconstruction.
“This shows that the PM is nervous. Till now, he has had over 50 enquiries conducted. He has got over 33 cases registered against me. He got it all enquired but nothing came out. Ever since I assumed the charge of the Delhi CM, they have been making enquiries against me. They have found nothing to date,” Kejriwal said.
The CM said he welcomed the probe and asserted that nothing will come out of it because there was no wrongdoing.
“It was said that Kejriwal committed scam in building schools, bus scam, liquor scam, road scam, water scam, electricity scam. I may have faced the maximum number of inquiries in the world. Welcome this new inquiry. Nothing was found in any case. Nothing will be found in this also. What will you get when there is nothing wrong?” he asked.
Earlier in the day, BJP lawmaker Manoj Tiwari hit out at the AAP and said the CBI probe will reveal who all were behind the irregularities in the bungalow reconstruction.
“The probe will also reveal on whose directions the PWD officials approved tenders of small amounts for various works related to the construction of the bungalow. They founded the party in the name of common man and they have looted the money of the common man, that too, during the peak of the pandemic,” said Tiwari.
The comments from both sides came after CBI registered the PE — a precursor to the first information report (FIR) — on September 25 against unknown people. An official aware of the matter said that Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar on May 12 submitted a report flagging irregularities in the construction of the CM’s house. Congress leader Ajay Maken — who was former urban development minister — also submitted a complaint to lieutenant governor VK Saxena, flagging several violations in the construction of the house. On May 19, Saxena wrote to the Union home ministry, recommending a probe by a specialised agency.
In a letter to the PWD engineer-in-chief on September 26, CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) asked for certified copies and details of expenses related to the construction work. HT has seen a copy of the letter.
CBI used the words “construction of new residential building” for the CM instead of “renovation” in its letter to PWD.
Among the documents that CBI sought from PWD include “records/note-sheet portion containing recommendation or approval of officers of PWD pertaining to addition/alteration of the residence of chief minister”, bids submitted, proposal submitted by the client regarding the renovation including any extra work, approval of building plan by the “competent authority” and details of superior specification “including modular kitchen, marble flooring, wooden wardrobe, interior artistic work, ornamental work, etc”.
According to the letter, the agency also asked for relevant guidelines of Central Public Works Department (CPWD) related to specification of the items, including civil and electrical, guidelines for award of additional work, guidelines regarding deviation in approved scope of work while adding enhanced work, documents showing existing structure, documents of payments made to consultant by PWD, and award of contract.
According to the letter, PWD was asked to submit these documents by October 3.
The BJP has alleged that between September 9, 2020 and June 2022, ₹44.78 crore were spent to renovate the CM’s official residence in violation of guidelines. Union home minister Amit Shah, while speaking in the Lok Sabha in August, also targeted Kejriwal over “corruption in renovation of the bungalow”.
The AAP has maintained that the renovation work at the CM’s house was necessary as the property was constructed 80 years ago, and there were multiple incidents of portions of roof collapse on the premises.
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