Kejriwal govt clips controversial ACB chief’s wings

New Delhi, July 1

As the battle over his appointment to the Anti-Corruption Branch rages on, MK Meena, the head of the anti-graft body found himself being shunted aside on Wednesday after he was directed to oversee training of personnel and monitor cases that are being tried.

The order, a directive from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), comes as SS Yadav, AAP’s own choice for the position, was directed to supervise the elite wing’s investigation and functioning. Citing its reasons for doing so, the AAP government said the arrangement would last until the Delhi High Court disposes of a petition challenging Meena’s appointment.

Wednesday’s order comes days after the Delhi High Court refused to entertain Delhi government’s plea to restrain Meena, who was Lt Governor Najeeb Jung’s pick for the post, from entering the ACB headquarters.

In his order, Vigilance Director Sukesh Kumar Jain has also directed Yadav to report to him.

According to the Kejriwal’s government, director of Vigilance Department of Delhi government is the head of ACB and is authorised to allocate work to the officers in the anti-graft body.

"MK Meena has been posted as Joint Commissioner of Police in ACB. Since there is no regular post of Jt Commissioner of police in ACB and as the matter is sub-judice, Meena will look after the work of training and monitoring of under trail cases till the final outcome of ongoing proceedings in the High Court," Jain said in the order.

"SS Yadav, additional commissioner of police ACB, shall supervise the work of DCPs, ACPs, inspectors and SHO of police station of ACB. He shall also supervise all investigations inquiries and other functions of ACB and its police station. So branch officers shall work under his direct control and supervision. He shall report directly to Director (vigilance)," he said in his order.

Duties of other officers in the ACB will remain unchanged, the order said.

On Wednesday, the Delhi government cancelled three orders issued by Meena through which he appointed Inspector Brij Mohan as the new SHO replacing Inspector Vinay Malik.

The government's latest move has the potential to intensify the ongoing tussle between Lt Governor and AAP government.

The battle over Meena’s appointment, an extension of the ongoing turf war between Delhi’s Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, began when Jung appointment Meena to head ACB unmindful of AAP-government’s objections.

The appoint resulted in the elite anti-graft wing having two heads —  Meena and Yadav — which, in turn, resulted in a battle of wills between the two officers.

Howeve,r on June 29, Delhi High Court asked Meena to act in “accordance with the law”, refusing to issue directions to restrain him from entering ACB's office. — PTI