Delhi Jal Board tender irregularities: Court sends accused to 14-day judicial custody

New Delhi: A court here on Saturday remanded retired chief engineer Jagdish Arora and contractor Anil Agarwal to 14 days of judicial custody till February 24 in connection with a case related to irregularities in awarding a tender by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

The accused were arrested on January 31 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which moved an application requesting the court to send the accused individuals to judicial custody.

Duty Special Judge Nyay Bindu of Rouse Avenue Court presided over the matter and directed the jail authorities to provide proper medical assistance and conduct medical examinations for both accused persons during their custody.

The ED's allegations involve the awarding of a DJB contract for the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of electromagnetic flow meters to M/S NKG Infrastructure Ltd, despite the company allegedly not meeting the technical criteria.

It is claimed that the accused received illegal gratifications amounting to Rs 3 crore and awarded the contract worth Rs 38 crore to M/S NKG Infrastructure Ltd, which subcontracted the work to M/S Integral Screws Industries, owned by Anil Kumar Agarwal.

The ED's application was opposed by advocate Nagesh Behl, counsel for accused Anil Agarwal.

The counsel for the accused argued that the tender was awarded at a lower price and accused the ED of misleading the court.

They contended that no charge sheet has been filed by the CBI in the scheduled offence and said that the ED should have waited for the charge sheet before taking action.