Delhi and District Cricket Association 'Den of Corruption' Under Arun Jaitley, Says Aam Aadmi Party

Keeping up the attack on finance minister Arun Jaitley, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday alleged huge financial bunglings in Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) during his tenure as its chief from 1999 to 2013. It also said large amounts were siphoned off through fake companies besides other irregularies including in team selection. (Arun Jaitley is Clean, Says Top Delhi and District Cricket Association Official)

At a press conference here, AAP leaders, quoting from reports of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), DDCA's internal probe committee and a Delhi Government-appointed inquiry panel, accused Jaitley of giving "direct and indirect" consent to "massive corruption" in the cricket body. (Delhi And District Cricket Association Refutes Corruption Allegations Against Ex-Chief Arun Jaitley)

Jaitley on Wednesday rubbished the allegations and said he will not respond to vague charges.

"The DDCA was a den of corruption under Jaitley. The bunglings had happened under direct or indirect consent of Arun Jaitley during his tenure as DDCA chief. Prime Minister Narendra Modi must ask Jaitley to resign to ensure fair probe as some of the competent agencies to invstigate the are under Finance Ministry," said AAP Spokesperson Raghav Chadha.

Citing instances of such "frauds", he alleged an additional expenditure of Rs 90 crore was incurred in renovation of the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, against sanctioned budget of Rs 24 crore, and that fake companies were set up by DDCA office bearers to siphon off money through roundtripping.

"Payments were made to five companies whose registered addresses were same and were headed by same director. There was duplication of funds and fictitious companies were paid for work they never did," alleged Chadha.

Calling the irregularities a "Commonwealth Scam of Cricket", they said BJP MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad had been seeking investigation into the serious allegations and a number of inquiry commitees have found gross misappropriation of funds in DDCA.

The AAP leaders repeated their allegations that Jaitley was behind the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid at Delhi Secretariat on Monday.

Asked why they have come out with the reports of SFIO and DDCA's internal committee which were already in public domain, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the Delhi government was committed to investigate the irregularities unlike past dispensations which "sat over them".

"The CBI had come looking for few incriminating documents that are not yet in public domain. The raids were carried out in an attempt to intimidate the Delhi Government," Chadha said.