Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved investigation against former Delhi minister Satyendra Jain for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs seven crore for waiving of penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which was executing the project for installation of CCTVs in 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi.

Saxena agreed with the proposal of Directorate of Vigilance (DoV) to refer the matter under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act, 1998 to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for approving investigation against the former Delhi minister by Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of GNCTD.

Jain, who was Delhi’s PWD minister and nodal authority of the project, was accused of receiving a bribe of Rs seven crore for waiving off the penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on BEL for delay in installing 1.4 lakh CCTV Cameras in Delhi at the cost of Rs 571 crore.

The case of corruption against Jain emerged after a complaint by an employee of BEL in September 2019, who alleged that the BEL through its vendors arranged for a bribe of Rs seven crore for Jain.

As per records, apart from the complaint, the ACB also obtained information from secret sources which corroborated the case of the complainant.

According to the file, the fact that repeat orders were placed to the vendors to enhance value to arrange for the alleged bribe money to Jain indicate commission of offence under PoC Act.

The bribe money was allegedly paid to Jain through vendors of BEL, as per a communiqué issued by the LG Office on Saturday.

Considering the information provided by the ACB and the gravity of allegations/corruption involved in the matter, it was recommended that there were sufficient reasons and grounds to grant permission under Section 17 A of the PoC Act to allow ACB to conduct investigation in the matter to unearth the truth, it said.

According to ACB, a media report in 2019 had stated that the Delhi government had imposed a penalty of Rs 16 crore on BEL for delay in installing the CCTVs in Delhi and a bribe of Rs seven crore was arranged to be paid to Jain for waiving off the penalty.

The ACB had recorded the statement of the complainant, who faced the departmental enquiry (DE) in connection with the case.

The complainant also provided the copy of minutes of proceedings of DE against him in which he had mentioned about the incident of demand and payment of alleged bribe amount of Rs seven crore to Jain.