Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Sunday, 9 August alleged that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report released on 7 August, covering the period up to 31 March 2023, has flagged irregularities amounting to ₹3,500 crore under the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The minister made the allegations at a press conference at the state BJP office in New Delhi, calling the report a 'written document of corruption' under Kejriwal's leadership.

Key Findings of the CAG Report

The CAG report, tabled in the Delhi Assembly on 7 August, contains detailed observations across multiple departments for every financial year up to March 2023. According to the report, around ₹70,410 crore in tax revenue was outstanding from certain businesses in Delhi, which the previous government had allegedly failed to recover for more than five years.

The report also noted that bogus e-way bills worth ₹68,680 crore were generated during the period. Additionally, 4,076 GST non-filers continued generating e-way bills worth ₹11,635 crore. Of the ₹6.10 crore e-way bills issued, only 0.10 per cent were examined, according to Singh. An investigation into select cases found 344 instances of non-compliance involving a revenue impact of ₹3,071.92 crore, alongside a turnover mismatch of ₹3,710.17 crore.

Manual Tenders and Missing Contract Files

Singh alleged that the Kejriwal government conducted 1,185 manual tenders — in violation of mandatory online tendering norms — in which 14,527 bids were received. He alleged that rates were decided in a predetermined manner through mutual understanding among bidders. Critically, files related to contract awards were available in only 3 per cent of the tenders; documents pertaining to the remaining 97 per cent of contract awards were reportedly missing from Delhi government records.

Singh further alleged that arbitration clauses were inserted into tenders, enabling large-scale irregularities. He claimed this was the reason audits were never conducted during Kejriwal's tenure.

Electricity Subsidy Irregularities

The PWD Minister cited specific subsidy-related anomalies flagged in the report. Around 50,000 consumers whose electricity bills remained zero for 12 consecutive months were nonetheless provided subsidies worth ₹17.81 crore, according to Singh. A further 90,000 consumers who had reportedly not been residing at their addresses for six to 11 months received electricity subsidies worth ₹11.88 crore. Singh alleged a total of ₹42 crore was released from government funds in such ineligible subsidy cases, and said the matter would be investigated.

LNJP Hospital Cost Escalation

Singh also alleged irregularities in the construction of LNJP Hospital under the previous government. He claimed that when construction began, the cost per bed was projected at approximately ₹33 lakh, but after repeated site visits by then Health Minister Satyendar Jain, the cost escalated to ₹72 lakh per bed.

BJP's Broader Accountability Claim

Singh said that within 18 months of the present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Delhi government, 24 CAG reports have been received, with each report allegedly exposing corruption involving thousands of crores of rupees. He also alleged that 8,334 businesses whose GST registrations had been cancelled continued to generate e-way bills. The press conference was conducted by State BJP Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor, with State BJP spokesperson Yasir Jilani also present.

The AAP and Kejriwal have not publicly responded to these specific allegations as of the time of this report. With the CAG findings now in the public domain, the BJP is expected to press for further legislative and investigative scrutiny in the coming weeks.