New Delhi [India], August 21 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday issued a manufacturing warrant for accused Pankaj Verma, who’s presently in judicial custody. The courtroom additionally remanded Ankit Shrivastava to judicial custody following his police custody, after he was produced earlier than the courtroom on the finish of a two-day police remand.
Link Special Judge Ruby Neeraj Kumar remanded Ankit Shrivastava to judicial custody till September 3. The courtroom additionally issued a manufacturing warrant for Pankaj Verma for August 25.
Other accused, together with former minister Satyender Jain and 4 others, stay in judicial custody in reference to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) rip-off case.
It is alleged that the investigation revealed that the technical proposal for the augmentation of the Rohini STP from 15 MGD to 25 MGD was altered by the then-Minister, who accepted an enhancement to 30 MGD with none technical advice or feasibility examine.
Similarly, the Rohini and Narela STPs had been included within the mission, whereas the Okhla Phase-V STP was excluded, leading to an estimated value escalation of roughly Rs 123 crore. The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) contends that these arbitrary selections by Minister (Jain) had been taken with out sufficient technical justification.
The ACB sought the issuance of a manufacturing warrant for Pankaj Verma and the judicial custody of Ankit Shrivastava.
Shrivastava had beforehand been remanded to 2 days of police custody for the restoration of his cell phone, which was allegedly used to share DJB corrigendums via WhatsApp chats with different accused people.
It was submitted that Shrivastava shared the WhatsApp messages in 2021 and subsequently disposed of the cellphone in 2023. However, the chats had been recovered from the cellphone of Raj Kumar Kurra.
Advocate Rajat Bhardwaj, showing for Shrivastava, opposed the applying for judicial remand, stating that no new materials had surfaced in the course of the two days of custody. He argued that the scenario remained unchanged from August 5, when Ankit Shrivastava first joined the investigation.
The ACB has arrested Satyendar Kumar Jain (former Minister of Water, GNCTD), Udit Prakash Rai (IAS, former CEO, Delhi Jal Board), Nagendra Yadav (Proprietor, M/s AN Enterprises), Raja Kumar Kurra (Owner, M/s Euroteck Environement Pvt. Ltd), Pankaj Verma (Proprietor, M/s Srijanhar), and Ankit Shrivastava (a marketing consultant with the Delhi Jal Board).
Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat appeared for the ACB and sought the judicial custody of Ankit Shrivastava.
He submitted that the investigation established that Nagendra Yadav acted as an middleman between officers of the DJB and representatives of Euroteck. KVNS Rao (of Euroteck) handed a letter to Nagendra Yadav, who subsequently delivered it to the workplace of Satyender Jain.
It is additional alleged that Satyendar Kumar Jain then directed Ankit Srivastava to coordinate with KVNS Rao concerning a gathering after sharing Sh. KVNS Rao’s visiting card. Screenshots of the chat between Sh. Okay.V.N.S. Rao and Sh. Ankit Shrivastav had been subsequently recovered from the cell phone of Sh. Okay.V.N.S. Rao.
The investigation additionally revealed a dilution of environmental norms prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). While the CPCB had prescribed eight obligatory parameters for handled effluent high quality, solely 5 parameters had been integrated into the tender paperwork. Important obligatory parameters equivalent to pH, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total Nitrogen (N-Total) had been omitted, thereby diluting environmental safeguards to grant an undue benefit to the know-how supplier, the ACB alleged.
Advocate Rajat Bhardwaj submitted that it’s the obligation of the investigating officer to ascertain the authorized necessity of an arrest. He argued that when Ankit Shrivastava appeared earlier than the investigating officer on August 5, the officer hid this reality.
Bhardwaj additional argued that this was not a case the place Ankit Shrivastava was produced earlier than the courtroom inside 24 hours of being summoned, as Ankit was known as in at 10:00 AM earlier than being formally produced. He asserted that the grounds of arrest offered weren’t legitimate grounds within the eyes of the regulation.
During the listening to on August 19, Satyendra Jain addressed the courtroom instantly, stating that the federal government had determined to scrub the Yamuna River and that augmenting current STPs was half the price of constructing new ones. He said that he held eight ministerial portfolios and was certain to just accept technical recommendation.
Jain famous that when tenders had been floated, the tender quantity was round Rs 1,546 crore. Opposing the ACB’s contentions, Jain said {that a} minister just isn’t linked with corrigendums, including that he was faraway from workplace on May 30, held no portfolio thereafter, and that the work was awarded six months after his exit.
Jain additional argued that whereas Rs 1,546 crore was termed extremely inflated by investigators, an estimate of Rs 1,938 crore was thought-about acceptable. He said that if the worth had been inflated, the tender might have been re-issued, including that if the tender was acceptable at Rs 1,938 crore, it was definitely acceptable at Rs 1,546 crore. Jain known as it a traditional case the place he was falsely roped in.
Countering Jain, the ACB alleged that Ankit Shrivastava despatched the corrigendum to the proprietor of the corporate regardless of having no official enterprise with the STP, but he joined conferences, supplied recommendation, and shared official paperwork.
The ACB additionally submitted that sludge remedy was intentionally separated from the STP mission scope to ask separate tenders, and that corrigendums had been uploaded solely to the DJB web site moderately than being printed in newspapers.
Additionally, it was submitted that 2.7 crore was transferred to Srijanhar from Eurotech with none precise work being carried out. Out of this quantity, 1.22 crore was transferred to a different firm.
The ACB additional alleged that 61 lakh was despatched to Udit Prakash via banking channels on January 19, 2023, underneath the guise of a mortgage settlement dated January 10, 2023. Udit Prakash subsequently attended two conferences in his capability as CEO of the DJB.
Rebutting the arguments, Advocate Rajat Bhardwaj said that if the prosecution needed to hint the proceeds of crime, they need to current clear proof to the courtroom moderately than altering their stand. He argued that the ACB should specify to the courtroom what new proof was gathered concerning Ankit Shrivastava after August 5. (ANI)