Court closes graft case against Satyendar Jain after CBI finds ‘no illegal gains’ 

A special court on Monday accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) closure report in a graft case against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain in awarding a tender to a private company during his tenure as the Public Works Department Minister, noting that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe “found no illegal gains or wrongful loss to the government”, thus proving there was no conspiracy or corruption.

Responding to the development, AAP said in a statement, “All the cases filed against AAP leaders are false. With time, the truth will come out in all cases.”

‘No evidence’

Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh (Prevention of Corruption Act) said, “When the CBI could not find any evidence of criminal conspiracy, abuse of power, pecuniary gain, or wrongful loss to the Exchequer, and the alleged acts are at most administrative irregularities, no offence under Section 13(1)(d) of the PC Act or criminal conspiracy is established.”

The CBI launched an investigation based on a 2019 FIR by the Delhi government’s Vigilance Department stating that Mr. Jain had approved the recruitment of a 17-member team of consultants for the PWD through outsourcing, thereby bypassing standard government recruitment procedures.

No benefit: agency

However, in its closure report, the CBI stated that there was “no pecuniary benefit” to the hired persons and the acts of the accused “did not constitute fraudulent conduct”.

The report stated that the consultants were hired through a “transparent process” and were examined by a “broad-based committee”, consisting of members from the Central Public Works Department, Delhi Metro Corporation and Housing and Urban Development Corporation. “The qualifications of the selected candidates met general standards, many from reputed institutes, and some moved on to better jobs later,” the report added.

Citing the closure report, the court said that the hiring process was justified because the PWD faced a shortage of specialised employees in areas like urban planning and graphic design, where no sanctioned posts or recruitment rules existed, making direct recruitment unfeasible.

“Therefore, hiring through an outsourcing agency was an accepted, common practice,” the court noted.

‘Political vendetta’

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Atishi termed the judgment a “proof of the BJP’s political vendetta”.

“Over 200 cases have been filed against AAP leaders since 2015, but none involve corruption. Every time these cases reach court, their baseless claims are exposed. The BJP has weaponised agencies to tarnish reputations without evidence, without foundation,” she said at a press conference.