Non-bailable warrant issued against ACB chief

A non-bailable warrant was on Friday issued against Anti-Corruption Branch chief Mukesh Kumar Meena by a Commission of Inquiry appointed by AAP government to probe multi-crore CNG fitness scam and a 30 per cent cut in his salary ordered for not responding to summons to appear before it and furnish details of the case.

The Commission of Inquiry (CoI), whose appointment was declared “invalid” by Union Home Ministry last month, directed the Delhi Police to execute the NBW and apprise it of action taken by September 15. The Commission also issued direction to “attach” 30 per cent of Meena’s salary till the time the records pertaining to the inquiry into the CNG fitness scam conducted by the ACB are presented to the probe panel. Meena appointed by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has also probed the CNG fitness scam and filed a charge sheet in court last week.

The Commission said Meena “deliberately failed to produce the records pertaining to its inquiry”. Meena did not respond to phone calls and text messages. In August, the AAP government had appointed Justice (Retd) S N Agarwal, a former judge of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, to head the one-man probe panel, set up under Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 to probe the scam in which a number of officials of previous Sheila Dikshit government were under the scanner.

The AAP has been accusing the Lieutenant Governor of trying to shield the officers found guilty by a CBI probe into the scam which was detected by Delhi Government’s Anti-Corruption Branch in 2012. 

The Commission has asked the Station House Officer Civil Lines Police Station to execute the NBW by September 15 and in case he fails to execute it, then apprise the Commission the reasons behind it. According to a senior officer, the Commission has powers of a civil court and can issue summons and <g data-gr-id="25">non bailable</g> arrest warrants.

On September 3, the Commission had issued summons to Meena to appear before it as he had passed an order that “no information pertaining to the case will be shared with the Commission”.