New Delhi: The Arvind Kejriwal government and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung have been caught in yet another standoff. After the Delhi government decided to appoint police officers from Bihar, the L-G's office has said that the matter will be examined only when he receives a formal proposal.
Six personnel of Bihar Police have joined the Anti Corruption Branch of Delhi government on deputation amidst the ongoing tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government over the jurisdiction of the Anti Corruption Bureau. The Bihar police have called it routine.
The Delhi government had sent a request as the ACB is facing a manpower crunch following which the five officers were dispatched. ACB's request for nearly 600 officers, including around 24 inspectors, is pending with Delhi Police top brass which has been citing its own staff crunch for delay in providing the demanded manpower.
The move to induct policemen from Bihar also seems to be aimed at reducing ACB's reliance on Delhi Police as till now all its officers were derived from them. "One has to keep the Home Ministry in loop if government employees of one state are sent to work in another state, In this case, it must be the LG. We don't know whether the LG or the MHA is in loop in this connection," said a senior government official.
Recently, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had reached out to non-BJP chief ministers to mount political pressure on Narendra Modi government even as the matter over ACB's jurisdiction have reached the Supreme Court.
Kejriwal had conveyed to chief ministers of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal among others that the Centre's notification, throwing its weight behind Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, was "detrimental" to India's federal structure and it may happen to their states as well.
Delhi Police and ACB have recently come face to face after some of the former's men were arrested by the anti-graft unit for allegedly accepting bribe.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau of Delhi government, which is probing a number of high-profile case, was barred from registering any case against officers and political functionaries of the central government which includes the Delhi Police which works under MHA.
However, the Delhi High Court held that ACB of NCT government has the jurisdiction to arrest policemen while dismissing the bail application of a head constable who was arrested by ACB in a corruption case. The matter is currently pending in the Suprem Court.
The AAP government and the Lt Governor have been involved in a public spat over his powers vis-a-vis an elected government. The Centre had on May 21 issued a notification siding with the Lt Governor.
Speaking at the assembly session a couple of days ago, Kejriwal had said that the notification conferring more powers on Lt Governor Najeeb Jung was part of an "experiment" to take the country towards "dictatorship."
In the notification, the Centre had given absolute powers to the LG in appointment of bureaucrats while also clarifying that he need not "consult" the chief minister on subjects like police and public order.
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