Water Minister Kapil Mishra, the complainant in the water tanker scam case, said on Wednesday that he was being treated as the perpetrator while the “accused”, former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, was being treated as the “boss” of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB).
Mr. Mishra said that the ACB summons he received had cited Section-160 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which gives police officers the power to “require the attendance of witnesses”.
The letter sent to Ms. Dikshit, who was the chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board when the alleged scam took place in 2012, did not cite any legal provisions, making it a “request, not a summoning”, said Mr. Mishra.
A senior ACB official said the communication had been sent to Ms. Dikshit “as per legal procedures”, which had to be kept in mind given the former “CM’s profile”.
“The complainant in the case is being treated as the accused and the accused as the boss by the ACB. From the letter itself it is clear that the ACB is trying to protect Ms. Dikshit,” said the DJB Chairperson.
On Tuesday, Mr. Mishra had written to L-G Najeeb Jung asking that FIRs be lodged against Mr. Jung and ACB chief M.K. Meena for “sitting over” the investigation of four cases filed against Ms. Dikshit by the AAP government in 2014.
Water meters
“After my letter, the news broke that Ms. Dikshit had been asked to appear in the case of procuring expensive water meters in 2010. The case had been filed in 2014. Why did the ACB wait two years and five months to write that letter,” asked Mr. Mishra.
The tanker scam probe was handed to the ACB only last month, while four cases against the former CM have been pending since 2014.
Targeting the BJP, as the ACB reports to the Centre via the L-G, Mr. Mishra said the party was also trying to protect Ms. Dikshit.
“There have been meetings at the residence of a senior BJP leader to plan protests. They have been given instructions to shield Ms. Dikshit and target me and Arvind Kejriwal,” said Mr. Mishra.
He said that Ms. Dikshit had signed off on the decision to buy non-automatic meter reading (AMR) metres from a company that was the single bidder for the contract. Mr. Mishra said 2.5 lakh meters were needed, but the company had bid to supply 1.5 lakh only. However, the contract for supplying 2.5 lakh meters was given to the company, with 50,000 more meters being added later without a new tender being floated.
Mr. Mishra said that the meters were bought for Rs.1,918 per piece, with VAT and labour charges additional. According to the DJB’s rules, the cost of any item should cover all related expenditure, including transportation, taxes and maintenance.
“Not only were the rules ignored, it was later found that the same meters were available for cheaper. A complainant had bought five meters from the market for Rs. 875 to Rs. 1,075,” said Mr. Mishra.
There have been meetings at the residence of a senior BJP leader to plan protests and shield Sheila Dikshit
Kapil Mishra,Water Minister
