New Delhi, Mar 30 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved a step forward in the investigation of alleged financial irregularities within the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), filing its first charge sheet against four individuals and a company.

A Delhi Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court is set to hear the matter next on April 1, when it will most likely decide whether to take cognisance of the 140-page charge sheet along with documents totalling up to 8,000 pages.

It is a case of alleged corruption in tendering of flow metre procurement, and according to the sources, named in the charge sheet are former DJB Chief Engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora, contractor Anil Kumar Agarwal, former NBCC General Manager D. K. Mittal, one Tejinder Singh, and NKG Infrastructure Limited, whose Director has passed away and has not been made an accused in the case.

The charges arise from accusations of corruption in a DJB contract, with the ED alleging that bribe money was funnelled as election funds to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), currently governing Delhi.

The investigation, which stemmed from an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), claims that the contract awarded to NKG Infrastructure Limited for Rs 38 crore did not meet technical eligibility criteria, suggesting forged documentation and inflated contract rates to facilitate kickbacks and election funding.