Fresh LG-AAP government tussle as ACB chief MK Meena orders probe against senior official

NEW DELHI: In a fresh tussle with Delhi government, Anti Corruption Branch Chief MK Meena has ordered an inquiry against senior bureaucrat CB Sanghi for allegedly allowing conversion of industrial plots from leasehold to freehold when he was CMD Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited in 2011-12.

According to a source, ACB has received a complaint of alleged irregularity against senior Sanghi, who holds the charge of Principal Secretary, Vigilance, following which the investigation was ordered by Meena, whose appointment as ACB chief by the Lt Governor was rejected by AAP government.

"While he was posted as CMD at DSIIDC in 2011-12, he allowed conversion of industrial plots to freehold. This is beyond his power as no permission was taken from DDA or Lt. Governor, which is mandatory in this case," the senior ACB officer told PTI.

ACB claims advocate Vivek Garg gave a complaint, following which an investigation was ordered by Meena. In his complaint, Garg has also asked to check involvement of other people in it.

In his complaint, he has questioned why Sanghi took no permission from DDA and LG before allowing conversion. When Sanghi was contacted for comments, his office said he was not aware of it.

Last month, the Vigilance department of Delhi government had tried to clipp the power of Meena by asking him to only look after training work and monitoring of cases undergoing trial till the High Court decides on the validity of his appointment.

The Department has asked ACB's Additional Commissioner S S Yadav, backed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, to supervise the main work including investigation.

According to Kejriwal government, the director of Vigilance department of Delhi government is the head of ACB and is competent to allocate work among the officers in the anti-graft body.