The Arvind Kejriwal Government removed the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Vinod Kumar Sharma for filing the chargesheet in the CNG Fitness scam.
Sharma has been transferred to Principal Office Police Training College (PTC) at Jharoda Kalan in South West district. Source said the officer was summoned by a top official of the AAP Government and threatened with dire consequences.
Top sources said Additional Public Prosecutor Vinod Kumar Sharma who was posted in the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) court, has scrutinised the chargesheet pertaining to CNG Fitness scam case.
Earlier, Sharma has written to ACB chief MK Meena alleging that he was being “pressurised” by “some officials” of the Delhi secretariat —including the principal secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal — to “produce files related to the scam”.
The ACB had filed the chargesheet on September 3.
On September 2, Sharma wrote, “…The scrutiny of the challan (chargesheet) of case FIR 21/12 was done by me on September 1, 2015. Today (September 2), I was called by some senior officials from the Delhi Secretariat. They include the alleged (suspect) in the case, secretary to the Delhi Chief Minister. They directed me to produce the files before the chargesheet was finalised.”
Kumar and other top officials of the transport department were earlier summoned by the ACB in connection with the scam. “I have high blood pressure. I am unable to…do justice in this case. I… withdraw myself from the case,” stated Sharma in the letter.
The next date for hearing in the CNG Fitness is on September 26 for consideration of chargesheet. The court had accepted an SPP Sanjay Kumar Gupta appointed by lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung to represent the State in the case.
Advocate Sanjay Kumar Gupta on Monday had informed Special Judge Poonam Chaudhury that the “competent authority”, the l-G, had appointed him as the SPP in the case. The court took Gupta’s appointment on record. The court rejected the AAP Government-appointed SPP B S Joon’s plea for documents related to the chargesheet in view of Article 239
The tussle between the Government and the l-G was also visible when the public prosecutor who had scrutinised the chargesheet had alleged pressure from the chief minister’s principal secretary to “produce files related to the scam”.
In the chargesheet, ACB has named India-based director of ESP USA, Nitin Manawat, Puran Chand Tamta, CEO of Tambros India ltd, an alliance partner of ESP India, Joginder Sharma, a former Deputy Commissioner posted at Vehicle Inspection Unit (VIU) at Burari, transport officials MA Usmani, VK Gupta and Ashok Gupta. These persons were earlier arrested by the ACB in 2013 and are not out on bail.
It also chargesheeted two IAS officers - former transport commissioners; RK Verma and R Chandramohan and JP Sharma in the case. While MA Usmani and Ashok Gupta are retired deputy commissioners (transport), VK Gupta retired as joint commissioner (transport).