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CBI swoops in on minister aide

Searches office of Satyendar Jain OSD's office for illegal appointment'.

New Delhi: The CBI on Friday conducted searches at the office of officer-on-special duty of Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain in connection with the alleged irregularities in his appointment as a resident doctor at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya and subsequently as an aide to the minister.

According to sources, searches were conducted at the office of Nikunj Aggarwal, OSD to Jain and Anup Mohta, director Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya. They said the teams were sent to the offices of Mr Aggarwal and Mr Mohta to get records related to appointment and other allegations including Aggarwal’s nomination for a course at IIM Ahmedabad and for a trip to Bejing, China. However, sources clarified that no searches took place in the office of Mr Jain and the “action was limited only to the office of the OSD and the director”.

The CBI had earlier registered an FIR in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of Mr Aggarwal, as OSD to Mr Jain.

The agency registered the case on the basis of a complaint from Delhi government’s deputy secretary Vigilance K.S. Meena. The complaint is now the part of the FIR. The FIR is against Mr Mohta and Mr Aggarwal for alleged criminal conspiracy and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

BJP leader Vijender Gupta had alleged that Mr Aggarwal is the son-in-law of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s sister-in-law. In its complaint, the vigilance department has claimed Mr Aggarwal was appointed as senior resident doctor (orthopaedics) at the Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya on an ad hoc basis on August 10, 2015 even though there was no proposal to engage an SR and no such post was available.

“Also no advertisement was issued by the hospital for the selection of Dr Nikunj Aggarwal as SR. No walk-in interview was conducted for the purpose,” it said.

Mr Aggarwal had made a handwritten application on a “plain paper” for appointment in the hospital on August 6, 2015 and within four days his appointment was approved without following any procedure, the complaint alleged.

“Within few days of appointment of Mr Aggarwal, his services were requisitioned for appointment as OSD to minister of Health. As per the residency scheme, resident doctors can only be engaged for working in hospitals, and not for other duties,” it alleged.

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