LG Saxena calls for FIR Against Sisodia-led Delhi Jal Board in Rs20 crores Fraud

New Delhi, 24 September 2022: Amid the hostile debacle between Delhi LG VK Saxena and the Delhi Government, the Delhi LG Saxena instructed the Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to file an FIR, charging Delhi Jal Board officials led by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia with “embezzlement” of Rs 20 crore.

According to a note from the L-G, Saxena has also directed the chief secretary to name any DJB officers or officials who have been accused of embezzling money and give a report on the measures taken within 15 days.

Officials also claimed for several years, the DJB reportedly collected $20 crores from customers in the form of water bills and moved the money to a private account rather than the DJB’s bank account.

“The DJB chose Corporation Bank as its banker to collect water bills on its behalf by an order in June 2012 for three years, and the same was renewed further in 2016, 2017, and even in 2019 after the fraud was discovered,” the LG’s note continued.

LlWith the knowledge of DJB executives and in complete violation of the conditions of the contract, the bank hired a private company, M/s Freshpay IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., to collect cash and checks and deposit them in DJB’s bank account.

Additionally, the LG authorities claimed that while CM Kejriwal was the DJB chairman, the disparity and irregularities were discovered after the bank’s contract was extended past October 10, 2019. The board led by Kejriwal continued to prolong Corporation Bank’s contract, and by extension, that of M/s Freshpay IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., which served as the bank’s collection agent, until 2020, according to the note.

They further alleged that the DJB prolonged the contract and increased the service cost from Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 for each bill rather than taking any action. While another official claimed that “the water bills collected from people were deposited in Federal Bank and transferred to the private account of one M/s Aurrum E-Payments Pvt. Ltd.”