NEW DELHI | Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj has demanded the immediate dismissal of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and a probe into his role in the ‘rice scam’. He revealed that rice obtained from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for distribution among Delhi’s poor was instead sold by Assam-based North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) to a Haryana company at twice the price. The FCI released the rice after repeated correspondence by Additional Commissioner Arun Kumar Jha, who has since been suspended. In his written response to the show-cause notice, the official stated that the corporation’s letter was sent to the FCI after discussions with and instructions from Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
The AAP Delhi Chief questioned why the officer was suspended for acting on the minister’s instructions while no action had been taken against the minister. He further questioned the minister’s claim that he had merely forwarded the letter, pointing out that the minister’s own Food and Civil Supplies Department has treated it as a recommendation. He asked why Sirsa forwarded NERAMAC’s request to his Additional Commissioner twice, and why, when the second request arrived, he did not question where the earlier 31,000 metric tonnes of rice had been distributed in Delhi.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Two days ago, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said in the Delhi Assembly that he receives letters from many people, including MLAs, and that he simply forwarded this letter, asking what his fault was. His statement makes it necessary to examine his role in the entire ‘rice scam’ in detail. The minister himself admitted in the Assembly that a corporation called NERAMAC had written to him, and that he forwarded the letter to the Additional Commissioner with instructions to positively consider it in accordance with the rules and provisions.”
Explaining the purpose of the proposal, the AAP Delhi Unit Chief continued, “The primary purpose of this letter was clear: to provide rice at affordable prices to ordinary people living in Delhi, daily wage workers, migrant workers from other states and people who do not fall under the Public Distribution System. The corporation had not merely asked for its letter to be forwarded. It had specifically requested that the proposal to purchase rice from the FCI Delhi under the OMSS (Open Market Sale Scheme) scheme be examined and that the necessary approvals, permissions and authorisations be granted.”
Detailing the sequence of events, the AAP Delhi Chief stated, “This matter continued for several weeks, during which 31,000 metric tonnes of rice was to be supplied every week. When the Central Government’s Vigilance Department received a complaint and it came to light that such a major corruption was taking place, the Food and Civil Supplies Department under Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa issued a show-cause notice to its own Additional Commissioner, Arun Kumar Jha, and suspended him.”
Pointing to the contents of the show-cause notice, Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted, “The show-cause notice makes it clear that Arun Kumar Jha had not merely forwarded the proposal. On April 8, 2026, he also sent an email to the FCI, providing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Delhi Government and stating that the department had no objection and that the organisation was permitted to purchase the rice. Thereafter, emails were sent to the FCI on April 13, April 16 and April 17, 2026, repeatedly following up and stating that NERAMAC had deposited the money and that the release order should therefore be issued.”
On the subsequent request for another consignment, he added, “The matter did not end there. On May 4, 2026, the corporation again wrote to Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, informing him that it had received 31,000 metric tonnes of rice and now wanted more. The minister again forwarded the letter to the Additional Commissioner for positive consideration. Following this, letters and emails were again sent to the FCI on May 11, May 14 and May 15, 2026, asking that this rice be given to NERAMAC.”
Referring to the suspended officer’s response to the show-cause notice, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Suspended officer Arun Kumar Jha has mentioned Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s name several times in his response to the show-cause notice. He has clearly written that the letter was forwarded to the FCI after discussions with and instructions from the Food and Civil Supplies Minister. In response to the second letter dated May 4, 2026, the officer repeated that everything had been done following instructions from and discussions with Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa.”
Directly questioning the Delhi CM and the LG, the AAP Delhi Chief said, “The officer who worked on the minister’s instructions was subjected to a departmental inquiry and suspended, but why has no action been taken against the minister who gave those instructions? The officer claimed that work for which the officer was suspended was carried out on the instructions of Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. Why has the minister not been dismissed and why has no legal action been taken against him? Our demand is that Manjinder Singh Sirsa be removed from the post of minister and legal action for alleged corruption be initiated against him, because these are extremely serious allegations.”
Contrasting the minister’s claim with his department’s own notice, he emphasised, “Manjinder Singh Sirsa may be describing this as merely forwarding a letter, but his own department’s show-cause notice clearly treats it as authorisation by the Delhi Government and describes it as a violation of the OMSS policy. Paragraph 10 of the notice also clearly states that the recommendations made by Arun Kumar Jha to the FCI were illegal and unauthorised. Arun Kumar Jha carried out this entire exercise without moving any file. He did not consult the head of his department and did not obtain his approval. This entire corruption was being carried out secretly without approval.”
Highlighting that the transaction was repeated, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Once, Manjinder Singh Sirsa could perhaps accidentally forward a letter to someone. Once, someone could deceive him and get 31,000 metric tonnes of rice released through his Additional Commissioner. But this did not happen just once. It happened again. In May, the same letter came to the minister again, stating that 31,000 metric tonnes of rice had been received. The minister again forwarded it to the Additional Commissioner with instructions to examine it again in accordance with the rules.”
Questioning the lack of scrutiny over the second consignment, Saurabh Bharadwaj asked, “Should it not have occurred to Manjinder Singh Sirsa that if this organisation had received 3.1 crore kilograms of rice in Delhi, where had all that rice been distributed within one month? At which ration shops was it distributed and through what mechanism? Distributing 3.1 crore kilograms of rice would involve an extensive process and infrastructure. But the minister did not think about any of this and simply sent the letter again. Therefore, serious questions arise about Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s role in the entire matter. We want legal action in this case and demand that he be removed from the post of minister.”
