What began with a swirl of suspicion has ended with the quiet thud of a file being closed. A Delhi court has officially ended a corruption case against AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, citing a complete absence of evidence after a prolonged four-year investigation by the CBI.
The case, once rooted in the Delhi government’s vigilance wing’s claims about irregularities in hiring consultants for the Public Works Department (PWD), has now dissolved in the face of legal scrutiny. The Central Bureau of Investigation told the court it found no signs of illegal gratification, no conspiracies hiding in the paperwork, and no personal windfalls from the decisions in question.
Presiding over the matter, Special Judge (PC Act) Dig Vinay Singh at Rouse Avenue Courts didn’t mince words. “Not even a shred of material exists to suggest a criminal conspiracy,” he observed, emphasizing that suspicion, no matter how loud, cannot substitute for proof. The law, he said, demands more than mere whispers—it requires solid ground.
Back in 2019, when Jain was the PWD minister, he greenlit the hiring of 17 consultants through outsourcing. The vigilance department saw red flags in that move, alleging the process sidestepped official recruitment norms. An FIR followed.
But as the years rolled on, the CBI’s investigation uncovered a different story—one where urgency and departmental need drove the hiring, and where the selection process was found to be competitive and transparent. No hidden hand, no undue favour, no trace of kickbacks.
With that, the court accepted the CBI’s closure report and shut the case. However, it left the door ajar—if any fresh, credible material emerges, the investigating agency has the green light to step back in. Until then, the file remains shut, and the cloud over Jain lifts—for now.
