‘Unexplained 27-month delay’: AAP’s Satyendar Jain gets bail in Delhi Jal Board corruption case

Granting bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain in the alleged multi-crore sewage treatment plant (STP) tender scam, a Delhi court Thursday pointed to the “unexplained and extraordinary” delay of 27 months between the FIR being lodged and the arrest being made.

Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh of Rouse Avenue Court, in the order, said this delay “indicates that the investigating agency did not consider his physical custody necessary for over two years”. “… The prosecution has failed to identify any new or sudden intervening circumstance that warranted his arrest after such a prolonged gap.

Not much seems to have been achieved in the investigation during this long period besides collecting replies/responses and documents,” said the judge. The FIR was lodged on May 11 in 2024 while Jain, former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO Udit Prakash Rai and four others, were arrested on August 18 this year.

The case is being investigated by the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB). Special Judge Singh, in the order, also said the entire case rests on official documentary and electronic evidence. “… The notes, files, technical proposals, minutes of meetings, and bank transaction statements, etc., have already been seized by the ACB,” he added.

“Thirdly, the primary purpose of pre-trial detention is to secure the accused’s presence at trial and to prevent obstruction of justice. It cannot be permitted to degenerate into an advanced form of punitive punishment prior to conviction,” the Judge said, adding that the decision of the ACB not to seek police custody demonstrated that there was no active requirement for custodial interrogation.

“Continued detention in judicial custody cannot be justified on the generic plea that a conspiracy is yet to be unearthed,” the Judge said. The order also noted that there are no WhatsApp chats or calls that might presently connect Jain to the kickbacks and hawala transactions with other co-accused persons in the conspiracy.

While Senior Advocate N Hariharan appeared for Jain, Public Prosecutor Manish Rawat appeared for the state. The ACB’s probe focused on a specific contract to upgrade five Delhi’s STPs in 2022 when Jain was Water Minister.

The ACB claimed the tendering process was allegedly manipulated to restrict competition and favour Euroteck Environment (EEPL), which was eventually awarded the contract to upgrade and augment the five STPs in Nilothi, Najafgarh, Narela and Kondli between 2021 and 2022.

It also claimed money was routed through intermediaries allegedly linked to Jain and Rai; the latter has been accused of taking bribes worth Rs 1.5 crore. The ACB probe also claimed that augmentation costs were included in the project that was meant to upgrade some STPs.

The ACB further alleged that Jain altered the technical proposal for augmentation of the Rohini STP from 15 MGD to 25 MGD, and that he “approved the enhancement” without any “technical recommendation or feasibility study”.

It claimed that the Rohini and Narela STPs were included in the project while the Okhla Phase V STP was excluded, which allegedly resulted in an estimated cost escalation of approximately Rs 123 crore. Terming Jain’s decisions “arbitrary”, the ACB said they were “taken without adequate technical justification”.

The other accused are in custody and their bail pleas are pending before the court. Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.

Professional Background Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University. Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.

Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts. Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials. Recent notable articles In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations.

Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories. 1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man.

Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation.

The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey. 2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone.

It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.

3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.

Signature Style Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ...

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