What is the ₹571 crore CCTV project, in which Satyendra Jain’s troubles are increasing due to ACB investigation

New Delhi: The Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government on Wednesday registered a case against former PWD minister and AAP leader Satyendra Jain for alleged corruption in the Rs 571 crore CCTV project. Officials said that he allegedly took a bribe of Rs 7 crore to waive the liquidated damage penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited, a company installing CCTV in the capital.

This project was implemented by Satyendra Jain while he was the PWD minister in the previous Arvind Kejriwal government. 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras were to be installed in all 70 assembly constituencies.

What is the whole matter?
In 2019, the Delhi government started a project worth Rs 571 crore to install 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in 70 assembly constituencies of the capital. This project was given to Bharat Electronics Limited and its contractors but due to non-completion of the work on time, the Delhi government imposed a fine of Rs 16 crore on BEL and its contractors.

Now ACB has received a complaint that this fine was waived without any solid reason. It is also alleged that in return, Satyendra Jain was given a bribe of Rs 7 crore. This bribe was given through those contractors who got further work from BEL.

How did the scam come to light?
ACB first got this information through a media report. It was claimed in the report that the fine given to BEL has been waived under a major corruption case, when ACB investigated the matter, a BEL official confirmed these allegations and gave full information. After this, ACB started the investigation by taking necessary documents from PWD and BEL.

How was the bribe transaction done?
According to the complainant, this bribe was given through different contractors. These contractors were made to order a new consignment of CCTV cameras from BEL and their order value was deliberately increased. A bribe of Rs 7 crore was arranged from this increased amount.

Satyendra Jain was a minister in the Delhi government, so the ACB had to first take government approval (Section 17-A, POC Act) to register an FIR against him. When this approval was received, the FIR was registered.

What sections are imposed in the FIR?
The ACB has registered FIR number 04/2025 against Satyendra Jain. The case has been registered under sections 7 and 13 (1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Now the ACB is investigating the whole matter in depth to find out who else is involved in it.

Were there any other scams in the CCTV project?
The complaint also states that the CCTV project was not implemented properly. Many cameras were faulty from the beginning and their quality was also very poor. Now the ACB is also investigating whether there are more scams in this project.

Former CM accuses BJP
Meanwhile, former Delhi Chief Minister and senior AAP leader Atishi targeted the BJP and alleged that the BJP is implicating Satyendra Jain in a false case. In a social media post, she said, “When the investigating agencies leave their work and do Political Witch Hunting on the instructions of Saheb, then some such figures will be seen.”

She also shared a document discussing a reply of the BJP central government in Parliament, which claimed that out of 193 cases registered against political leaders by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the last 10 years, only two resulted in conviction.