Congress writes to Delhi LG seeking probe into 'extaravagant' spending on Kejriwal's house

The Congress has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for a probe into the "extravagant" expenditure in the construction of Arvind Kejriwal's residence and asked him to grant sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister, if found guilty.

In a letter to the LG, Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said he is writing to express his deep concern and disappointment regarding the "extravagant" expenditure, environmental damage, and violation of heritage protection and zonal plans in the construction of the chief minister's residence in Delhi.

"The construction of the new CM house has cost the exchequer around Rs 171 crore, with 15 out of 22 officers' houses adjacent to CM's house at Flagstaff Road being demolished or got vacated. The rest have been asked to not re-allot with time. This figure (Rs 171 crore) includes around Rs 126 crore spent on purchasing 21 new Type 5 flats in the CWG Village to compensate for the housing shortage," the former Delhi Congress chief said.

"I thus request you to conduct an inquiry in the matter. And if found guilty, grant sanction for prosecution of the principal beneficiary, the chief minister, and the principal perpetrator, the PWD minister of GNCTD," Maken said. Noting that the new CM house has violated the Master Plan Delhi (MPD) 2021, he alleged that it has been constructed in the Civil Lines Old Bungalow Zone, an area protected under MPD 2021.

The previous residence was a single-storey colonial-style building, which has been replaced by a three-storey structure with a basement with a covered area of around 20,000 sq feet (almost double of the previous covered area), the former Union minister said. This construction directly contradicts the MPD 2021 provisions, which aim to preserve the heritage and character of Lutyens Bungalow Zone and Civil Lines Old Bungalow Zone, he said.

The Congress leader has also alleged that 28 full-grown trees have been destroyed in the construction process which contradicts the provisions of MPD 2021 that emphasize the importance of preserving green cover in these protected zones. "The collusion of the PWD Minister to bypass the Secretary/Principal Secretary PWD: Work orders were seemingly split by PWD to keep them below Rs 10 crore, with the intent to avoid approval of the Secretary/Principal Secretary, PWD (for works amounting to more than Rs 10 crore).

"This was allegedly done by engineers of PWD in collusion with the then minister (PWD) Sh. Satyendar Jain, as required by the delegation of financial powers prescribed by the Finance Department of GNCTD," he said in his letter.

Maken also alleged that the expenditure of Rs 171 crore on the construction of the CM house has not been mentioned in the detailed demand for grants while getting the budget approved from the Legislative Assembly. "Furthermore, the Public Works Department (PWD) seemingly used an exemption order from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to bypass the need for sanctioning the building plan from local bodies for 'public purpose' projects.

The construction of the CM house cannot be considered a 'public purpose' project as the exemption was intended for projects like schools and hospitals. "In light of these concerns, I kindly request your immediate intervention to address these issues and ensure that public money is not misused, environmental damage is minimized, and heritage protection and zonal plans are strictly adhered to in future development projects," he said in his letter.