The Aam Aadmi Party government filed an interim application on Saturday in the Delhi high court against the appointment of Joint Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena as Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) chief.
The application is in the petition filed by the Delhi government against the ministry of home affairs notification.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said that Meena was currently under the scanner for an alleged hawala racket.
Last week, the Kejriwal government had brought out an order affirming the vigilance department’s jurisdiction over ACB and reiterated that Yadav was its chief. In the aftermath of fresh tension, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday wrote to the LG voicing his concern over the treatment allegedly meted out to Yadav and stressing that the post of ACB chief comes under the vigilance department and that the state has the power to chose its chief.
Earlier this week, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had written to Union home minister Rajnath Singh expressing his reservations over the LG’s decision, citing the rule book and pointing out that there was no post of joint commissioner in ACB at present.
That tension has been brewing is evident in a series of letters written by Yadav to various authorities—LG, police commissioner, director, vigilance, and even Meena, about a growing sense of threat among the ACB staff. In a letter dated June 24, Yadav has apprised director of vigilance, Sukesh Jain, about the actions of Meena, whom he describes as joint commissioner, New Delhi Range, and not that of ACB. He has also complained that Meena has been “unauthorisedly entering and occupying a room in ACB headquarters”.
According to his version of the latest round of events, Meena called him late in the evening and asked him about the FIR book. “He threatened me that the FIR book should be handed over to him as he wanted to show it to top authorities and take it out of the ACB police station. I told him it was in the safe custody of ACB and cannot be given like this as it will be an illegal act. I went to ACB at that time and he also arrived. He kept pressuring and threatening me,” Yadav has informed the director, vigilance.
Yadav has also informed the department that Meena has been keeping some armed CRPF personnel in an unauthorized and illegal manner in ACB. “I am under serious threat,” he has said. He has pointed out that he has raised his concern of threat to his life with the LG and police chief earlier too, saying he was apprehensive that Meena may use force to unlock his office and other offices in ACB and occupy them, evicting him.
