ACB files FIR against Bharadwaj and Jain in hospital ‘scam’

The Delhi Government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Thursday registered an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party leaders and former Health Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendra Jain in connection with alleged corruption in the implementation of health infrastructure projects during the tenure of the AAP government, an official said.

The leaders, along with unknown government officials and private contractors, were booked under section 13(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

AAP hits back

In response, AAP questioned why the FIR had not been made public yet. “Is the FIR so baseless that the BJP fears it will become a national joke if released publicly?” the party said in a statement, adding that the case is a “blatant misuse of agencies” to defame its leaders.

The FIR has been filed in connection with an August 2024 complaint made by BJP leader and then Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta, highlighting “grave irregularities and suspected corruption in health infrastructure projects including systematic manipulation of project budgets, misuse of public funds and collusion with private contractors”.

According to a senior ACB official, the complainant alleged that during 2018-19, 24 hospital projects worth ₹5,590 crores were sanctioned. However, these projects remained largely incomplete, with substantial and unexplained cost escalations. Similarly, the ₹1,125 crore ICU Hospital Project, covering 7 pre-engineered facilities with a total of 6,800 beds, remains only 50% complete after nearly three years and expenditure of ₹800 crores, despite an initial six-month completion timeline, the official added.

‘Approvals not taken’

“Verification of the complaint revealed unauthorised additional construction at government hospitals in Jwalapuri and Madipur carried out without approval from competent authorities. Notably, the Madipur hospital project was to be completed by November 2022, but remains abandoned and far from completion. Further, it was revealed that the 7 ICU hospitals have witnessed cost escalations exceeding 100%, with construction still incomplete well beyond the deadline of February 2022,” said the official.

Further, he added that verification also found that the New Block at LNJP Hospital saw project costs escalate from ₹488 crores to ₹1,135 crores over four years, with the structure still incomplete beyond its January 2023 deadline.

During the investigation, the officials also found that the Polyclinic Project also indicated misuse of funds where only 52 out of 94 planned clinics were constructed, while the cost rose from ₹168 crores to ₹220 crores. Many of these polyclinics remain non-functional.

“Despite a public announcement in 2016–17, the Health Information Management System (HIMS), a crucial tool for ensuring financial transparency in the health department, remained unimplemented and a free, cost-effective solution from NIC (e-Hospital) was deliberately rejected without justification,” he added.

‘Tender rules violated’

The ACB also found serious violations of rules, tender conditions, and financial protocols during scrutiny, revealing deliberate delays, inflated project costs, rejection of viable alternatives, and the creation of idle assets – collectively leading to massive losses to the public exchequer.