By Chandan Singh | Page 3 News Worldwide | New Delhi
New Delhi: Delhi Government Minister Pravesh Sahib Singh on Sunday launched a sharp attack on former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report released on August 7 has exposed financial irregularities worth around ₹3,500 crore under the previous government.
Addressing a press conference at the state office, Pravesh Sahib Singh said the CAG report was a “written document” highlighting alleged corruption during the Kejriwal government. He claimed that 24 CAG reports had been received within 18 months of the present government taking office, with each highlighting irregularities involving thousands of crores.
According to Pravesh Sahib Singh, the CAG report, covering the period up to March 31, 2023, flagged several issues in Delhi’s tax administration. He said around ₹70,410 crore in tax revenue remained outstanding from certain businesses for more than five years. He also alleged that 8,334 businesses whose GST registrations had been cancelled continued generating e-way bills, with bogus e-way bills worth ₹68,680 crore generated during the period covered by the audit.
He further claimed that 4,076 non-filers generated e-way bills worth ₹11,635 crore. Citing the report, he said only 0.10% of the 6.10 crore e-way bills were examined, while scrutiny of 70 cases detected 344 instances of non-compliance involving a revenue impact of ₹3,071.92 crore, along with a turnover mismatch of ₹3,710.17 crore.
Turning to government tenders, Pravesh Sahib Singh alleged that although online tendering was mandatory, the previous government conducted 1,185 manual tenders, attracting 14,527 bids. He alleged that tender rates were effectively predetermined through an understanding among bidders. He also claimed that files relating to contract awards were available for only 3% of these tenders, while records for the remaining 97% were missing.
The minister also raised questions over the electricity subsidy scheme, alleging that around 50,000 consumers received subsidies despite their electricity bills remaining zero for 12 consecutive months. He claimed subsidies of ₹17.81 crore were provided in such cases. He further alleged that around 90,000 consumers who had not been residing at their homes for six to 11 months received subsidies worth ₹11.88 crore, putting the total amount allegedly released in such cases at around ₹42 crore.
Pravesh Sahib Singh also cited the CAG findings concerning land acquired in Baprola for an industrial park. He said no work had been undertaken there for 28 years, resulting in unfruitful expenditure of ₹29.45 crore, while ground rent of ₹15.79 crore remained outstanding.
He also alleged irregularities in the construction of LNJP Hospital, claiming that the estimated construction cost per bed rose from around ₹33 lakh to ₹72 lakh after repeated site visits by then minister Satyendar Jain.
Pravesh Sahib Singh said the findings raised serious questions about financial management and tendering practices under the previous administration. He alleged that the former government avoided audits and claimed that Kejriwal would now have to account for “each and every” alleged act of corruption during his 11 years in office.
The press conference was conducted by Delhi BJP State Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor, while state spokesperson Yasir Jilani was also present.
