President okays FIR against Sisodia, Jain in Rs 1,300 crore scam

President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 1,300 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools.In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report in February, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of over 2,400 classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD). Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday said he will not bow down no matter how many cases the BJP-led central government files against him, hours after the President approved registration of an FIR against him in a Rs 2,000-crore classroom scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, there was a scam worth around Rs 2,892.65 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government. The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.In April, 2015, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the construction of additional classrooms in Delhi government schools. The PWD was entrusted the task of constructing 2405 classrooms in 193 schools. It carried out a survey to find out the requirement of the classrooms and based on the survey, projected a total requirement of 7180 equivalent classrooms (ECR) in 194 schools, almost three times the requirement of 2405 classrooms.