Special court accepts CBI closure report in PWD hiring case against AAP leader Satyendar Jain

New Delhi: In a major relief for AAP leader Satyendar Jain, a special court on Monday accepted CBI's closure report filed in a 2018 case against the former Delhi PWD minister and others related to alleged corruption in the hiring of a creative team for the department, noting that the "investigation found no criminal activity or wrongful loss to the government".

Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh said the investigating agency has not found any incriminating evidence over such a long period, and further proceedings would serve no useful purpose.

The agency had registered the case on May 28, 2018, on a reference from the office of the Lieutenant Governor of the NCT of Delhi to investigate the allegations of irregularities in the award of a tender to a private company for hiring a creative team for PWD works.

"A preliminary enquiry was earlier conducted to look into the matter. It was alleged that the accused persons, while working in the capacity of public servants, deliberately changed the terms and conditions in the NIT so as to make the private company eligible for participating in the tender,” a CBI spokesperson had said after filing the FIR on May 29, 2018.

Four years later, the CBI had filed a closure report in the matter, underlining that there was "no evidence of pecuniary advantage, conspiracy, or corruption".

"The total investigation found no criminal activity or wrongful loss to the government, nor any pecuniary benefit to M/s Soni Detectives. No evidence of quid pro quo or conspiracy has emerged, and the acts of public servants do not constitute fraudulent conduct," it said.

Citing the report, Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh said that the hiring process was justified because PWD faced a shortage of specialised staff in areas like urban planning and graphic designing, 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.

The agency had said that the professionals were hired transparently through an open advertisement and interview process by a broad-based committee including members from CPWD, DMRC and HUDCO.

“It is also claimed that the qualifications of the selected candidates met general standards, many from reputed institutes, and some moved on to better jobs later, indicating no undue pecuniary advantage was gained,” it had said.

The CBI investigation showed that the change in funding source was justified as payments shifted from the “Barapulla elevated corridor” project to “Mohalla Clinics,” as the same creative team served both, with the latter being a priority project fully funded by GNCTD.

The selection of the agency was transparent and done through a fair process; professionals from reputed institutes were hired, and the Engineer-in-Chief of PWD chaired the interview panel with other neutral officials to ensure fairness, the CBI had said in the closure report.

Recommending the rejection of a protest petition against its report, the CBI told the court that the petition does not provide any sufficient prima facie evidence from investigations or otherwise, warranting further inquiry.

The funds were used legitimately, with no misappropriation or mala fide intent, it said.

"When the investigating agency has not found any incriminating evidence over such a long period to prove the commission of any offence, particularly under the POC Act, 1988, further proceedings would serve no useful purpose," Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh said.

In the facts and circumstances mentioned above, in the absence of any evidence and sanction, the present final report for closure of the FIR is accepted, he said.