Pankaj Verma Remanded to Judicial Custody Till Sept 3 in DJB Tender Scam Case
A Delhi court on Thursday remanded Pankaj Verma, the proprietor of Srijanhar Enterprises and an accused in the alleged Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant tender scam, to judicial custody till September 3.
The order came following the completion of Verma's two-day police custody, which had been granted to the Anti-Corruption Branch on August 25 for custodial interrogation.
The case centres on alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board's tendering process regarding the augmentation and upgrade of 10 sewage treatment plants. According to the Anti-Corruption Branch, the tender process was allegedly manipulated to favour a private firm, Euroteck Environmental Pvt. Ltd., resulting in undue benefit to the company and causing financial loss to the government exchequer. Senior Aam Aadmi Party functionary and former minister Satyendar Jain is also named as an accused in the case.
During the court proceedings, Additional Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat, appearing on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Branch, informed the court that the accused was non-cooperative during questioning concerning the money trail and the recovery of a mobile phone.
The Anti-Corruption Branch told the court that Verma's custodial interrogation was necessary to examine multiple aspects of the transactions. Investigators sought to determine the purpose behind the incorporation of Srijanhar Enterprises, inspect the agreement executed between Srijanhar and Euroteck Environmental Pvt. Ltd., and probe a claimed loan extended by Srijanhar to Dhanvine Engineering.
According to the probe agency, both Srijanhar Enterprises and Dhanvine Engineering are linked to Verma and were allegedly utilised to route funds received from Euroteck.
