14 July 2016
The Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Monday filed a first information report (FIR) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his predecessor Sheila Dikshit in connection with the water tanker scam.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Vijender Gupta registered a complaint against Kejriwal “for causing delay and not cancelling the contract for water tankers”.
Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, in June 2015, constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the irregularities in hiring some 385 stainless steel water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012. This was during Dikshit’s rule.
Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra formed a five-member committee to investigate the water tank contract. The committee submitted a report to Kejriwal in August 2015, highlighting alleged corruption amounting to $ 85 million in awarding tenders for hiring water tankers.
Almost a year later, last week, on Monday, the report was sent to the prime minister and Delhi’s lieutenant governor by the AAP government.
The state Water Minister Mishra, on 12 June 2016 wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung recommending either a CBI or ACB probe against Dikshit in connection with the allegations.  The minister also said that the state government had filed three FIRs against Dikshit for various corruption cases.
Jung forwarded the report on the alleged scam, on 16 June, to the ACB for further investigation.  He also forwarded a complaint filed with him by BJP leader Gupta accusing Kejriwal of “suppressing” the committee’s report into the tanker scam for 11 months.
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has sent notice to Sheila Dikshit asking her to join the investigation into the alleged scam.
Kapil Mishra said that he was questioned for two hours while they did not even once talk about former CM Sheila Dikshit’s alleged involvement. He said that ACB officials intend to frame him and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in this case.
Explaining the delay in approaching ACB, Mishra said, that the Delhi government had already filed a case in the Delhi High Court to take control over ACB back. Therefore, he decided to wait till the outcome of that case and send this case to ACB after its control was legally restored to the Delhi government by the high court.
Dikshit said that the tankers are still being used by the present government and that the tanks benefitted the people in Delhi as they were fitted with GPS devices and could be tracked. She said that the allegations against her were politically motivated.
Vijender Gupta, leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, claimed that four Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials are being pressured by the AAP government not to cooperate in the ongoing investigation.

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