CAG report puts previous Kejriwal government under fresh scrutiny

Two days after a CAG report covering the Delhi government’s functioning up to March 31, 2023, was released, Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma on Sunday accused the former Arvind Kejriwal government of large-scale financial irregularities, alleging that the report had exposed irregularities involving around Rs 3,500 crore.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday in Delhi, Verma said the CAG report was a record of corruption during the Kejriwal government and alleged that audits had not been conducted during its tenure. He said 24 CAG reports had been received within 18 months of the present government, with each exposing alleged irregularities involving thousands of crores of rupees.

He said the latest report showed that the Kejriwal government had flouted rules, including through the use of manual tenders and arbitration clauses.

“After the CAG report that surfaced two days ago, we can say that Kejriwal flouted rules, conducted 1,185 manual tenders and inserted arbitration clauses in tenders, indulging in large-scale irregularities and looting public money,” he said.

According to the details cited by Verma, around Rs 70,410 crore in tax revenue was outstanding from certain businesses in Delhi, with the amount remaining unrecovered for more than five years. He alleged that the GST Department, in collusion with certain industrialists and businessmen, allowed outstanding GST liabilities to remain pending.

The minister also cited the report’s findings on e-way bills. He said 8,334 businesses whose GST registrations had been cancelled continued to generate e-way bills. The report, covering the period up to March 31, 2023, had recorded bogus e-way bills worth Rs 68,680 crore, he said.

He further said 4,076 non-filers continued to generate e-way bills worth Rs 11,635 crore. He alleged that these irregularities took place in collusion with the Kejriwal government. Of 6.10 crore e-way bills, only 0.10 per cent had been examined.

An investigation into 70 cases, he said, found 344 instances of non-compliance, with a revenue impact of Rs 3,071.92 crore. A turnover mismatch of Rs 3,710.17 crore was also detected, according to the figures cited at the press conference.

The allegations extended beyond taxation. He said the electricity subsidy scheme also contained cases where subsidies were provided despite unusual consumption records. He said around 50,000 consumers had electricity bills showing zero consumption for 12 consecutive months but received subsidies totalling Rs 17.81 crore.

He further said around 90,000 consumers had not been residing at their homes for periods ranging from six to 11 months, yet electricity subsidies worth Rs 11.88 crore were provided to them. The minister alleged that Rs 42 crore in government funds had been released as power subsidies in such cases and said the matter would be investigated.

He also pointed to land acquired in Baprola before 1998 for an industrial park. He said the CAG report found that no work had been carried out there during the last 28 years, resulting in unfruitful expenditure of Rs 29.45 crore. Ground rent of Rs 15.79 crore also remained outstanding, he said.

The minister linked the finding to Kejriwal’s repeated claim that the Delhi government did not have land, saying the Baprola case raised questions about the use of land already acquired for development.

The issue of government contracting formed another major part of his Verma’s allegations. He said tenders were required to be conducted online but the Kejriwal government conducted 1,185 manual tenders, in which 14,527 bids were received.

He alleged that the bidding process allowed rates to be effectively decided beforehand through mutual understanding among bidders. He also said files relating to the award of contracts were available in only 3 per cent of the tenders, while records relating to the remaining 97 per cent were missing from the government.

He alleged that this was among the reasons the former government did not allow audits and claimed that Kejriwal himself did not sign files, while his ministers later faced jail.

The minister also alleged irregularities in the construction of LNJP Hospital. He said the estimated construction cost had initially worked out to around Rs 33 lakh per bed but rose to Rs 72 lakh per bed after repeated visits to the site by then minister Satyendar Jain.

The minister said the findings would now require Kejriwal to account for decisions taken during his time in office.