Water tanker scam: Decisions regarding Jal board are taken collectively, says Sheila Dikshit

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who will be probed by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) for her alleged role in 400-crore water tanker scam, on Friday defended herself saying all the procedures were followed and that those tankers are still being used.
She said that all the decisions regarding Jal board are taken collectively.

“Decisions regarding Jal board are taken collectively, including BJP. Our conscience is absolutely clean, all procedures were followed, those tankers are still being used,” she said.

A report of a fact-finding panel on the alleged water tanker scam was on Thursday forwarded to anti-graft agency ACB by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung for further investigation.The report by a committee of the Delhi Jal Board was sent to Jung by the AAP government for probe by either CBI or Delhi’s Anti Corruption Branch following persistent demand by the city BJP leader Vijender Gupta.

Jung has also forwarded to ACB a complaint filed with him by Gupta accusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of “suppressing” the committee’s report into the tanker scam for 11 months. Dikshit was not immediately available for comment.

Water Minister Kapil Mishra on June 12 had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jung recommending either CBI or ACB probe against Dikshit in connection with alleged water tanker scam.

“LG has forwarded the committee’s report to the ACB for appropriate action in the matter. He has also forwarded Gupta’s complaint that the Delhi Chief Minister suppressed the report of the fact-finding committee for 11 months,” government sources said.

Mishra had on Thursday said that the former Delhi CM should be behind the bars for alleged corruption and that she was not facing any action as BJP was not keen to punish the guilty.

“We have filed 3 FIRs against her for various corruption cases and one in depth enquiry report which is with ACB now.  My Report exposing corruption by Shiela Dikshit has been forwarded to ACB,” he said.

Last week, the AAP Government had made the committee’s report public after Gupta demanded from Kejriwal in Delhi Assembly to do the same.

The letter written by Mishra said the committee had “indicated” that Dikshit as the then Chairperson of Delhi Jal Board and other DJB members had indulged in “grave irregularities”.

“I am requesting you to kindly hand over this matter to CBI with the direction to lodge an FIR and take further appropriate action in accordance with law,” Mishra said in his letter to the PM. 

(With inputs from PTI)