Delhi Government is now mulling to open an enquiry against the then Chief Secretary PK Tripathi for not allowing investigation on a complaint of a former Delhi Police inspector Jawahar lal against Joint Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena, who is Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) chief, accusing him of being involved in curtain purchase scam during his tenure as Principal of Police Training College.
lal lodged his complaint against Meena at Delhi Secretariat on Thursday. It has been revealed that the complaint against Meena was closed by Tripathi as he did not find any merit in the case and the same was conveyed to the MHA.
It may be noted that the complainant had a shady past. He had faced three vigilance enquiries and an FIR was registered against him. This was the reason he could not promoted to the post of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), a senior police official said.
Sources in the AAP Government revealed that with this complaint, the Government will target both Tripathi and Meena. Tripathi is currently holding the charge of Public Grievances Commission while Meena was appointed head of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) by lieutenant-Governor. Sources said that despite strong evidence, Tripathi did not find any merit in the complaint and referred to close the case.
Sources said that a complaint was received with the Vigilance Department and the same was routed to the MHA for permission to conduct an enquiry. The MHA nodded in agreement and an enquiry was conducted but nothing was found hence, the complaint was closed.
“Now, AAP Government will try to target Tripathi and seek his resignation. The Government had earlier asked Tripathi to resign but he did not,” said sources. Tripathi could not be reached for his version despite repeated attempts.
Meanwhile, rubbishing the allegations of ex-police inspector Jawahar lal pertaining to the curtain scam of approximately Rs20 lakh, Meena on Thursday cleared his stance on the same and further claimed it to be the matter of animosity than a substantial issue to be probed in.
Two days earlier when Jawahar lal in a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had hit on ACB chief of his criminal conspiracy and forgery during his functioning as a principal of Police Training College (PTC) in 2005, Meena rubbished all the accusations and said, “The said issue has been already settled after a thorough enquiry conducted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Delhi Government.”
When asked about his take on ex-police inspector’s complaint, he added, “I had punished him during a departmental proceeding, since then he harbored grudge against me and this complaint is an offshoot of it.”
In the letter Jawahar while pointing a finger at Meena has claimed that 1988 batch IPS officer in PTC had committed ‘gross’ misconduct in conspiracy and collusion with some private firms for procurement of curtains and curtain rods worth Rs20 lakh (approx.) He has further claimed that due to his criminal misconduct the loss of the substantial public funds was caused to the State exchequer.
Meena has been allegedly accused of illegally constituting a purchase committee purchase of general store articles to obtain the financial benefits in cash or kind from the private firms. As mentioned in the letter Meena allowed splitting the bills showing purchase of 10 curtains for Rs5,900 whereas it was alleged that the no cloth specification was available on records.
In the letter, Meena has also been accused of falsely stating the demands for curtains when 460 curtains were already in stock. The blame of misappropriating Government money for the fake procession of bills was also charged against him.
Jawahar in the letter had asked Meena the answers for procedural lapses committed when he was the principal of PTC and why no action should be taken in the matter.