Central vigilance body to probe into Kejriwal’s ‘Sheesh Mahal’

New Delhi: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has asked the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to investigate allegations of irregularities in the construction and renovation of Arvind Kejriwal's residence, 6, Flagstaff Road, while he was in office.

The property in Civil Lines, referred to as a "Sheesh Mahal" by the BJP and regularly referenced in speeches by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, was allotted to Kejriwal in 2015 and is owned by the Delhi government's Public Works Department, Indian Express reported.

The CVC received a complaint from Vijender Gupta, the then-leader of the opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the incoming Rohini BJP MLA, on October 14, 2024, accusing him of illegal building at the property.

Gupta had claimed that Kejriwal had broken building regulations by constructing an eight-acre 'lavish mansion' and demolishing and combining two bungalows and other government buildings on the nearby Rajpur Road that had previously housed judges and senior officials in Type-V apartments with the new home, in violation of the FAR (floor area ratio) and ground coverage standards. He further claimed that the layout plan was not properly approved.

A year ago, in September 2023, the CBI had filed a preliminary inquiry into the matter months after the Ministry of Home Affairs requested that the Comptroller & Auditor General of India conduct a special audit into the alleged irregularities and violations in the bungalow reconstruction.

On October 16 of last year, the CVC filed a complaint for further examination of the issue, forwarding it to the CPWD for additional investigation. In December, the chief vigilance officer of CPWD submitted a factual report based on Gupta's complaint to the CVC, which Gupta said informed him that the CVO of CPWD had been "advised to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter" after reviewing the factual report, promising him that “suitable action based on the findings of the investigation report” will be taken.

According to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that details the audit of the house's repairs and renovations, the entire cost of the work at the property skyrocketed to Rs 33.66 crore by the time it was completed in 2022, from an initial estimate of Rs 7.91 crore in 2020.

Kejriwal left office in October 2024 after resigning as chief minister of Delhi in September of last year after leaving on bail in a case involving the Delhi excise policy. He vacated the residence after resigning.

The AAP has often said that the BJP started the controversy because it had nothing else to disparage Kejriwal personally and that the property is not his "personal" property and will eventually be given to someone else because it is the chief minister's residence.