Joint Commissioner of Police and chief of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) Mukesh Kumar Meena on Tuesday got relief from the Delhi High Court after it stayed till September 23 the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued by a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) of the AAP Government to probe the CNG fitness scam, on the Centre’s plea seeking its quashing.
“Wait till September 23. Till then do not precipitate matters. Don’t take any coercive steps,” a Bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said.
“Pending further orders in the petition, proceedings with regard to September 11 order (of CoI) shall remain stayed,” the court said. The order came on the Centre’s plea challenging the September 11 order of the Delhi Government-appointed CoI which had issued the NBW against ACB chief Meena.
The CoI, appointed to probe the multi-crore CNG fitness scam, had also directed attachment of 30 per cent of Meena’s salary till the records pertaining to the inquiry conducted by the ACB were presented to the probe panel.
The Centre’s plea was first mentioned by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain before a Bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva which directed that the matter be listed before an appropriate court by Tuesday itself. Thereafter, the plea was listed before the Chief Justice.
Apart from the order, the Centre has also challenged the constitutionality of and the establishment of the COI. The CoI, whose appointment was declared “invalid” by the Union Home Ministry last month, had directed the Delhi Police to execute the NBW and apprise it of action taken by Tuesday.
In August, the AAP Government had appointed Justice (Retd) SN Agarwal, a former judge of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, to head the one-man probe panel under the Commission of Inquiry Act to probe the scam in which a number of officials of erstwhile Sheila Dikshit Government were under the scanner.
Meena, appointed by lt Governor Najeeb Jung, had also probed the CNG fitness scam and the ACB had filed a chargesheet in court earlier this month. The Commission said Meena “deliberately failed to produce the records pertaining to its inquiry”. The AAP Government has been accusing the lt Governor of trying to shield the officers found guilty by a CBI probe into the scam which was detected by the Delhi Government’s ACB in 2012.