Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has ordered a first information report to be registered against officials of the Delhi Jal Board, a bank and a private company for allegedly embezzling Rs 20 crore in water bills, PTI reported on Saturday.

Saxena has also asked the Delhi chief secretary to identify officers who were allegedly involved in the fraud and submit an action taken report within 15 days, The Indian Express reported, citing a note from the lieutenant governor.

Over several years, the Delhi Jal Board allegedly deposited Rs 20 crore, collected as water bills, in private bank accounts instead of the official account, unidentified officials told the newspaper.

Advertisement

The matter had first come to light in 2019, according to PTI.

The Delhi Jal Board had appointed the Corporation Bank to collect water bills on its behalf in June 2012 for three years, and the agreement was renewed on three occasions in 2016, 2017 and 2019, the note from the lieutenant governor stated, according to The Indian Express.

The Corporation Bank, in turn, gave a contract to private agency Freshpay IT Solutions to collect the bills, the note added.

Saxena has also alleged irregularities in extension of agreement between Delhi Jal Board and Corporation Bank in 2019. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was the chairman of the Jal Board at that time.

Advertisement

Since Saxena took over as the lieutenant governor of Delhi in May, he has had multiple run-ins with the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government. He has ordered investigations into the government’s new liquor policy, procurement of buses and payment of salaries to guest teachers in Delhi schools.

On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party has accused the lieutenant governor of changing his banned currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore when he was the chairperson of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission in 2016. The notes were allegedly interchanged after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had devalued old currency notes in November 2016.