HC dismisses contempt plea against ACB Chief

The Delhi High Court (HC) on Tuesday dismissed a contempt plea filed against Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) Chief M K Meena, who had allegedly disobeyed the court order by shifting an ACB SHO from the post.

The plea was dismissed by a Division Bench headed by Justice G Rohini. "We are of the view that it is not necessary for the court to go into the correctness of the allegations in the contempt case and to return a finding as to whether the conduct of the respondents (Meena and SHO) would amount to willful disobedience of the court order. Accordingly, the contempt case is dismissed," the Bench stated.

In its petition, the Delhi government had alleged that Meena, in his position as the ACB Chief, had "blocked" the work of the anti-graft body and violated the court's order to act in accordance with the law. The contempt plea also alleged that Meena arbitrarily replaced the then SHO and did not lodge an FIR against two Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials, allegedly caught accepting bribe.

In an earlier order, the HC had ruled that nothing remained in the contempt plea against Meena since the city government's challenge on the issue of curtailment of powers of the ACB had been dismissed.

VIOLATION

In its petition, the Delhi government had alleged that Meena, in his position as the ACB Chief, had “blocked” the work of the anti-graft body and violated the order