The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has issued summons to senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and former Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain in connection with the alleged ₹2,000-crore classroom construction scam. While Jain has been summoned on June 6, Sisodia has been asked to visit the ACB office in Delhi on June 9.

Advertisement

Related Articles

Manish Sisodia was the Education Minister whereas Satyender Jain held the Public Works Department (PWD) portfolio in the AAP government. After the ACB’s summonses, the AAP called it a “calculated political ploy by the BJP”.

“This is not a scam by any stretch — it’s a calculated political ploy by the BJP. They are weaponizing institutions to attack AAP leaders and create a false narrative… When Aam Aadmi Party held power in Delhi, the BJP systematically defanged the ACB to strip it of any real authority. Today, they are using the same weakened institution as a tool to target AAP leaders and further their own agenda,” the AAP said in a statement.

On April 30, the ACB filed a case against Sisodia and Jain over alleged corruption in the construction of 12,748 classrooms in Delhi government schools. The anti-corruption body said that “significant deviations and cost escalations” were noticed, but not a “single work was completed within the prescribed period”.

Advertisement

“Consultant and architect were appointed without following due procedure, and cost escalations were carried out through him. The case registered after receiving permission u/s 17-A POC Act from the competent authority,” it added.

The ACB also alleged that over 12,500 classrooms were constructed at an increased rate of ₹8,800 per square foot despite the average cost, even for residential flats, being at around ₹1,500 per square foot.

The scam involved awarding contracts at highly inflated rates, with classrooms built at a cost of around ₹24.86 lakh each, roughly five times the usual cost, as per the ACB. Similar classrooms can be constructed in the national capital for around ₹5 lakh.

The project to construct these classrooms was allegedly awarded to contractors linked with AAP. In March this year, President Droupadi Murmu gave her approval for the registration of an FIR against Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in the alleged classroom construction scam.

Advertisement

In 2022, the Delhi government’s vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.