Delhi BJP demands CBI probe into alleged scam in DTC bus procurement

BJP MLA Vijender Gupta on Monday wrote to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam involving procurement of 1,000 low floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

A three-member committee that probed the matter has recommended scrapping the tender of the AMC (annual maintenance contract) of buses finding various "lapses", he said.

There has been "irrefutable evidence of irregularities and violations in the AMC bid", he said, alleging "criminal conspiracy and connivance" was responsible for it.

"The committee underlined the need to take special measures to ensure that there is competition in the tendering process to avoid monopoly pricing. However, it found that such concerns were not addressed when the DTC floated a tender for the purchase of the AMC," Gupta wrote.

The three-member committee, including transport commissioner and vigilance secretary of the Delhi government, was formed by Baijal last month.

The committee in its report stated there was no "infirmity" in procurement of buses but pointed to various "procedural lapses" in the AMC.

Senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday accused the Delhi BJP leaders of obstructing procurement of buses by the DTC that was doing so after a long gap of over a decade and demanded that they apologise to the people.

He also claimed that the committee report gave a "clean chit" to the Kejriwal government that there was no "scam" in procurement of the buses.