ED Raids AAP Leader Saurabh Bhardwaj in Hospital Scam Probe

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday searched the premises of former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and some private players as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in Delhi.

At least 13 locations in the National Capital Region (NCR) were raided by the sleuths after a case was registered against Bharadwaj and the others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. These include Mr Bharadwaj’s house in south Delhi and residences and offices of private contractors and commercial real estate developers located on KG Marg and West Patel Nagar, among others.

The ED investigation against Bharadwaj, AAP’s Delhi unit chief and national spokesperson, stems from an FIR registered by Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on June 26.

The ACB booked Bharadwaj, his party colleague and ex-health minister Satyendar Jain, private contractors and unknown government officials for alleged corruption in health infrastructure projects formulated by the previous AAP government led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Reacting to the ED action, the AAP claimed that the raids against Bharadwaj were an attempt to divert attention from questions being raised about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree and that the case against the party leader was false.

The ACB complaint came after the Delhi BJP in August last year alleged grave irregularities and "suspected" corruption in various health infrastructure projects under the AAP-led Delhi government.

"The searches were based on material collected during the probe and allegations contained in the FIR regarding large-scale corruption, unjustified cost escalations, unauthorised constructions and misappropriation of funds in health infrastructure projects of the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi," the officials of the Central agency said.

The complaint alleged "systematic manipulation of project budgets, misuse of public funds and collusion with private contractors" during 2018-19, 24 hospital projects - 11 greenfield and 13 brownfield - worth Rs.5,590 crores were sanctioned. However, these projects remained largely incomplete, with "substantial" and "unexplained" cost escalations.

An ICU hospital project worth Rs.1,125 crore, covering seven pre-engineered facilities with a total of 6,800 beds, is only 50 per cent complete after nearly three years and an expenditure of Rs.800 crore, despite an initial six-month completion timeline, the ACB officials said in June.

The Madipur hospital project was to be completed by November 2022 but remains abandoned and far from completion, a senior ACB officer said.

According to the ACB, seven ICU hospitals witnessed cost escalations exceeding 100 per cent, with construction still incomplete well beyond the deadline of February 2022.

It was alleged that the New Block at LNJP Hospital saw project costs increase from `488 crores to `1,135 crores over four years, with the structure still incomplete beyond its January 2023 deadline.

The Polyclinic Project also indicated "misuse" of funds. Only 52 out of the 94 planned clinics were constructed, and the cost rose from `168 crores to Rs.220 crores. Many of these polyclinics remain non-functional, the ACB had alleged.

Despite a public announcement in 2016-17, the Health Information Management System (HIMS) -- a crucial tool for ensuring financial transparency in the health department -- remained unimplemented, and a free, cost-effective solution from NIC (e-Hospital) was "deliberately" rejected without justification, it added.

The Delhi BJP said the ED raids against Bharadwaj have exposed the "medical scam" under the Kejriwal government, while senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia claimed the case pertained to a time when he was not even holding any ministerial post.