Diversionary tactic, false case: AAP on ED raids against Saurabh Bharadwaj

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches at the premises of AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj and some private persons in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in Delhi.

AAP claimed that the case against Bharadwaj was false and searches were an attempt to divert attention from questions being raised about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree while the ruling BJP claimed that the ED's action has exposed the "medical scam" under the previous Arvind Kejriwal government.

Officials said the searches were conducted at 13 locations in the national capital, including Bharadwaj's residence in south Delhi and offices of some private contractors and commercial real estate developers located on K G Marg and West Patel Nagar.

The ED action is based on the case registered by Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against Bharadwaj, former Health Minister Satyendar Jain, contractors and unknown government officials for alleged corruption in health infrastructure projects formulated by the previous government.

The ACB has taken action after Delhi BJP alleged "grave" irregularities and "suspected" corruption in various health infrastructure projects while claiming that there was "systematic manipulation of project budgets, misuse of public funds and collusion with private contractors".

It alleged that during 2018-19, 24 hospital projects -- 11 greenfield and 13 brownfield -- worth Rs 5,590 crore were sanctioned. However, these projects remained largely incomplete, with "substantial" and "unexplained" cost escalations.

An ICU hospital project worth Rs 1,125 crore, covering seven pre-engineered facilities with a total of 6,800 beds, is only 50% complete after nearly three years and an expenditure of Rs 800 crore, despite an initial six-month completion timeline, ACB officials said in June. The Madipur hospital project was to be completed by November 2022, but remains abandoned and far from completion, a senior ACB officer said.

According to the ACB, seven ICU hospitals witnessed cost escalations exceeding 100%, with construction still incomplete well beyond the deadline of February 2022. It was alleged that the New Block at LNJP Hospital saw project costs escalate from Rs 488 crore to Rs 1,135 crore over four years, with the structure still incomplete beyond its January 2023 deadline.

The Polyclinic Project also indicated "misuse" of funds. Only 52 out of the 94 planned clinics were constructed and the cost rose from Rs 168 crore to Rs 220 crore. Many of these polyclinics remain non-functional, the ACB alleged.

Despite a public announcement in 2016-17, the Health Information Management System (HIMS) -- a crucial tool for ensuring financial transparency in the health department -- remained unimplemented and a free, cost-effective solution from NIC (e-Hospital) was "deliberately" rejected without justification.