The Anti-Corruption Branch’s arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s nephew Vinay Bansal on graft charges on Thursday was an indication of a witch-hunt, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said.
Mr. Bansal was arrested in connection with the ACB’s probe into allegations of corruption in the execution of a 2015 Public Works Department (PWD) contract for the construction of drains that was allotted to his company, Renu Constructions.
Both Mr. Bansal and his father, the Chief Minister’s brother-in-law, Surender Kumar Bansal, had been directors of the company. Soon after his name figured in the FIR lodged last year, the senior Bansal passed away.
Reacting to the early morning arrest of Mr. Bansal, AAP Delhi spokesperson and Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said his father had been a contractor of the PWD for about 40 years.
“Only fault of the late Surender Bansal was that he had been doing his business as usual, and his relative became the Chief Minister. Now, he is no more and his son is in jail. Is it not witch-hunting,” asked Mr. Bharadwaj.
He said the contract had been awarded to the company a month before the AAP government came to power in February 2015. He asked when the contract was valued at ₹2.7 crore, how could there be a scam of ₹10 crore, as the complainant in the case had alleged.
“The only way there can be corruption is by constructing sub-standard drain or incomplete drain. The drain and it material quality was tested by a third-party quality control unit, the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, which is under the Central government,” said Mr. Bharadwaj.
He added that the ACB had ordered another quality check by Shri Ram Labs and the quality was found to be good.
Referring to the allegations of irregularities in the bills, Mr. Bharadwaj said, “Given that quality of drain is good, and even if some bills are not appropriate, it is by any stretch of imagination an irregularity or technical issue. How can it be called corruption?”
BJP takes a dig
Meanwhile, the BJP accused Mr. Kejriwal of giving “patronage” to the “misdeeds of Mr. Bansal”, according to a statement. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the Chief Minister had “lost all moral right to rule” after the arrest of his nephew.
