Delhi High Court backs M K Meena as ACB chief

The court declined the AAP government’s plea seeking directions to prosecute Meena as a party in the main petition that challenges the May 21 notification and the June 23 notification limiting ACB’s jurisdiction to officials of Delhi government.

The clash between the Lt-Governor and the Arvind Kerjiwal-led AAP government has resulted in the ACB now having two chiefs. While the Delhi government-appointed Additional Commissioner S S Yadav for the post, The L-G appointed Meena. The AAP government alleged that the move was an attempt on part of the Union government to interfere in the functioning of the Delhi government and to protect Delhi Police from alleged cases of corruption.

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The Delhi government, in its plea, had requested an “order restraining Meena, 1989-batch Indian Police Service officer, Joint Commissioner/New Delhi Range from entering the office of ACB …and from interfering with functioning of the ACB”.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who represented the government, said, “It was an emergent situation not an urgent” situation to ensure the smooth functioning of ACB and sought an interim order in the matter. She contended that Meena, “on numerous occasions”, had put “pressure on ACB officers to transfer all cases of corruption involving police personnel from ACB to Delhi Police”. She added that the AAP government’s previous 49-day tenure saw the registration of 21 cases and that no cases had been lodged after June 4, 2015. “This is due to M K Meena took charge on June 8, 2015,” she said.

In response, the court directed Meena to act in “accordance with law” and posed the question of whether the ACB would function “smoothly” if Meena was restrained from entering the ACB office.

Jaising also alleged, “Centre has been repeatedly attempting to interfere with and hamper the smooth functioning of the ACB. The notification which have been impugned in the writ petition were the first attempt in this direction.”

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain argued that since the ACB was a police station and the police falls within the purview of the Union government, the Centre was empowered to post someone to head it.

However, Jaising contended that the L-G’s order directing Meena to “look after” the work of ACB was “patently illegal”. She said the ACB “was set up more than 45 years ago and has been directly under the control of the Delhi government.”