The anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government on Wednesday filed a case against Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in connection with an alleged scam in the construction of schools and classrooms in the national capital, PTI reported.

The alleged scam pertains to the construction of 12,748 classrooms in Delhi government schools at a highly inflated cost of about Rs 2,892 crore, according to a report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The complaint states that work was done at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square foot. “The lump sum cost for constructing a school room/building as per the tender awarded is Rs 24.8 lakh per room,” The Indian Express had quoted an unidentified person privy to the complaint’s contents as saying in March.

“According to the complaint, the prices have been inflated almost to the tune of five times to defraud the general public and the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer under the garb of construction cost,” the person had told the newspaper.

An audit by the Central Vigilance Commission found that 63 tenders were floated and awarded at Rs 860 crore. Deviations from the awarded amount “to the tune of 17% to 90%” were observed, resulting in “escalation of cost up to Rs 326.25 crore”.

Work amounting to Rs 42.5 crore was allegedly “executed without proper tender through the existing contract of another school” and 1,214 toilet blocks were built with “extra expenditure of Rs 37 crore”, the newspaper reported.

The complaint stated that the roles of Sisodia and Jain needed to be investigated “as such a huge scam would have not been carried out without the ministers in charge of respective departments”.

While Sisodia held the finance and education ministries at the time, Jain was in charge of the public works department, which oversaw the construction work.

In 2022, the vigilance directorate of the Delhi government recommended an investigation into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.

On March 13, the Union home ministry granted sanction to prosecute Sisodia and Jain under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the alleged scam.

President Droupadi Murmu had also approved the registration of a first information report against the two Aam Aadmi Party leaders.

Sisodia had in March rejected the allegations, saying that he and other AAP leaders including Jain, Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi would “not bow down” before the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP defeated the AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls on February 8, denying the Kejriwal-led party a third consecutive term.