Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday sought a CBI enquiry into alleged “negligence and corruption” in connection with the termination of the concession agreement of the Delhi Airport Express Metro Line.
In a letter to Union Urban Affairs Minister Handeep Singh Puri, a copy of which was also sent to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Mr. Kejriwal said he had received reports about an impending liability of around ₹5,000 crore faced by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) due to the termination of the agreement.
“Given the alarming proportions of negligence and corruption, I would request you to entrust this case to the CBI for expeditious investigations and prosecutions,” Mr. Kejriwal wrote.
‘Onerous burden’
Quoting a report by the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, which was directed to enquire into the matter, the CM said: “The entire episode will lead to an onerous burden of about ₹4,700 crore, which will have to be shared equally by the Centre and the Delhi government.”
“Yet, the Delhi government has no means of taking any preventive or corrective action as the DMRC is neither answerable to it, nor does it exercise any form of control or authority over the DMRC,” he wrote.
The report stated that the concession agreement was “modified and wilfully manipulated” by the DMRC, assisted by its in-house consultants, to give an “unfair advantage” to the concessionaire at the expense of the public exchequer”.
It also claimed that there were “serious multiple defects and lapses” in the civil construction of the line by the DMRC.
“It was these defects and lapses which led to termination of concession agreement of the concessionaire,” the report stated.
When contacted, the DMRC said it had no comment on the matter.
Mr. Kejriwal said an enquiry by a high-level committee of experts was also necessary to establish “the causes and consequences of the serious multiple defects in construction of the DAEML so that public safety is not compromised” and trains are able to run at designed speed of 120 km per hour.