Alleging that there was a scam of Rs 20 crore in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Delhi BJP, on Monday, demanded an FIR registered against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Addressing a press conference here, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri justified his party’s demand for an FIR against Kejriwal as the chief minister was the chairman of the Jal Board at the time of the scam.

Bidhuri has requested the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to seize the Delhi Jal Board bank accounts and get them audited.

“The Delhi Jal Board had authorised Corporation Bank to collect the amount of water bills from consumers, but instead of depositing the received amount and the cheques with the Jal Board, the bank deposited them in fake bank accounts. The scam was revealed in 2018, when Chief Minister Kejriwal was the chairman of Jal Board. Despite the matter being brought to their notice, no FIR was lodged. Even then, instead of taking any action against the bank, not only the contract was continued of the bank but its per bill commission was also increased from Rs 5 to Rs 6,” he said.

The BJP leader said, “Ever since the Aam Aadmi Party government came to office in Delhi, the balance sheet of the DJB has not been prepared. Not only this, 22 letters have been written by the CAG to the Delhi Government for  an audit of the Jal Board, but the Delhi Government has not got the Jal Board audited.”

The Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly said, “In the first place, Delhi Government is not getting the accounts of Delhi Jal Board audited since 2015-16 even after several letters of CAG, while the debt on Delhi Jal Board is also increasing.”

“Today Jal board has become a den of corruption,” he alleged.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Ajay Sehrawat was also present during the press conference.

Bidhuri said corruption of fresh Rs 20 crore in the Jal Board came to the fore when Lt Governor intervened.

The BJP leader said a scam was going on in the Jal Board since about 2015, under which crores of rupees were embezzled with the connivance of the Jal Board employees, fund collector agents appointed by the Jal Board and officials of a private bank.

He said the consumers who used to come to the Jal Board offices to deposit bills at the kiosks of private companies, this company used to deposit their cash and checks in fake accounts, which was known to the Jal Board staff, but this thing could not come out because everyone’s share in it was fixed.

Bidhuri expressed surprise that when this scam came to light in 2018, instead of taking action on it, Kejriwal extended the contract of the private company for two years as well as increased the commission given to the private company.

He alleged that despite Kejriwal being aware of everything, his non-compliance with the police is proof of his complicity. Bidhuri said if there was a proper investigation of the Jal Board accounts, then who knows, this scam could have turned out to be of even Rs 200 crore.

Bidhuri said the BJP demands that the police should also investigate the matter as to why Kejriwal did not get the police FIR lodged.

The Leader of Opposition said after getting information about the scam in 2018, the Kejriwal government should have registered a police FIR, not doing which is proof of their patronage.