New Delhi [India], August 25 : A Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday remanded Pankaj Verma to two days' Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) custody for interrogation. He has been arrested in an alleged Delhi Jal Board (DJB) STP Tender scam case.
Former Minister Satyender Jain has also been arrested in this case whose bail was reserved for orders. Verma is the proprietor of the firm Srijanhar Enterprises.
Special Judge (MP-MLA Court) Dig Vinay Singh allowed the application moved by the ACB and remanded Pankaj Verma to two days of ACB custody till August 27.
While granting the police custody, the court said that his Police custody is indeed necessary for a fair investigation; his custodial interrogation is also necessary to unearth the other aspects of the conspiracy, including other persons involved.
"Accordingly, the application preferred by Pankaj Verma to reject his police custody is disallowed, and the application for his two days' PC preferred by the investigating agency ACB is allowed. He is remanded to Police Custody till August 27 at 2.00 PM," the Special Judge ordered today.
The present FIR originated from a Vigilance reference of May 10, 2024, from the Directorate of Vigilance, GNCTD, alleging a corruption scam involving hundreds of crores of rupees in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The allegations pertain to the tendering process and the subsequent award of contracts for the augmentation and upgradation of ten (10) Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) across Delhi. Those 10 STPs were divided into 4 blocks/packages, with a total tendered value of approximately Rs 1,943 crore.
It is alleged that the public servants from DJB were in league with private contractors, technology providers, and intermediaries, manipulating tender conditions, inflating cost estimates, and diluting environmental standards to ensure that the contracts were awarded to a select cartel, resulting in wrongful loss to the public exchequer and wrongful gains to the private entities.
While seeking two days' custody of accused Pankaj Verma, the Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat submitted that his detailed interrogation is required to ascertain the purpose of incorporation of M/s Srijanhar Enterprises; to examine the agreement between his proprietorship concern and Eurotech as to which products were to be sold and marketed; to clarify and ascertain the aspect of claim of loan by Srijanhar to Dhanvine Engineering.
It was also submitted that Verma's custody is required to ascertain utilisation of Rs 1.22 crores received by M/s Dhanvine, which were actually received by Srijanhar from Eurotech; purpose of transfer of Rs 81 lakhs to Vinod Chauhan; purpose of transfer of Rs 43 lakhs from Dhanvine to the firm of Nagendra Yadav;
The ACB also said that custodial interrogation is required to ascertain the actual quantum of loss caused to the Government; which officials were involved in the offence and the details of products/ services claimed to be supplied by Srijanhar are to be ascertained and obtained.
The custody remand application was opposed by the defence counsel on the ground that accused Pankaj Verma was not named as an individual in the original FIR of the present case; his firm was also not named.
It was contended that his firm Srijanhar Enterprises entered into a valid written Supervision Services Agreement with Eurotech; he personally undertook on-site technical supervision at the STP sites where the work was performed.
Defence counsel asserted that documented business outflows in the nature of salaries, labour payments, etc. exceed the amount alleged to have been dissipated; transfer of Rs 1.22 crores to Dhanvine was a legitimate, interest-free, unsecured Director's loan advanced for ordinary business purposes, which was also disclosed in Dhanvine's financial statements.