Purna Singh New Delhi

TheRouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Wednesday has granted bail to four accused in the alleged Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant (STP) scam, bringing relief to former board officials and private contractors facing corruption allegations in the case.

Special Judge Digvinay Singh ordered the release on bail of former Delhi Jal Board CEO Udit Prakash Rai, former contractual consultant Ankita Srivastava, AN Enterprises owner Nagendra Yadav and Srijanhar owner Pankaj Verma. Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who is also an accused in the case, had earlier been granted bail by the court.

Jain and the other accused were arrested on August 18 in connection with the case. Challenging Jain’s arrest, senior advocate Maninder Singh had argued that the arrest was unlawful because the reasons for taking him into custody were allegedly not communicated to him at the time.

The defence maintained that this amounted to a violation of the arrest safeguards and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.

The Anti-Corruption Branch had arrested Jain along with several other individuals in the case.

The list of accused arrested by the agency includes Udit Prakash Rai, former contractual consultant Ankita Srivastava, Nagendra Yadav, proprietor of AN Enterprises, Raja Kumar Kurra, owner of Eurotech Environment Private Limited, and Pankaj Verma, proprietor of Sirjanhar. The latest bail order also comes in the backdrop of Satyendar Jain’s earlier legal battle in a separate money-laundering case.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Jain on May 30, 2022, and he spent 872 days in Tihar Jail in connection with that case.

He was subsequently granted bail by the trial court on October 18, 2024, and walked out of jail.

With four more accused now granted bail in the Delhi Jal Board STP case, the proceedings will continue on the allegations surrounding the tender process and the ACB’s claims of corruption and favouritism.