Kejriwal Government Loses a Round to Lieutenant Governor Over Anti-Graft Chief

MK Meena, the police officer appointed to head Delhi’s anti-corruption agency, must be allowed to access his office, the Delhi High Court said today, ruling against the government of Arvind Kejriwal.

 

Mr Meena was nominated two weeks ago as the Chief of Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau or ACB by the capital’s Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.  

 

Chief Minister Kejriwal and his government, who are in the midst of a vigorous war with the Lieutenant Governor, appointed their own candidate to the same post- SS Yadav, another senior police officer.

 

He has accused the Lieutenant Governor’s nominee of threatening his life, while Mr Kejriwal and his ministers have said that Mr Meena has been soft on tackling graft.

 

Mr Kejriwal’s government had asked the High Court to restrain Mr Meena from entering the office of the ACB chief.  That plea was turned down today.  The court is hearing a case that challenges the Lieutenant governor’s right to appoint top bureaucrats in the capital.

 

Chief Minister Kejriwal has said that amounts to an encroachment of his powers and authority.  However, the Centre has emphatically backed the Lieutenant Governor, who serves as its representative in Delhi.