Centre cancels AAP government's order to remove Delhi Home Secretary Dharam Pal

The Union government on Thursday cancelled the Delhi government's order to remove Home Secretary Dharam Pal who had issued letter appointing Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police MK Meena as the new Chief of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB).

The Home Ministry has termed the removal of Delhi Home Secretary Dharam Pal as "void" and asks Delhi government to withdraw the order.

In no mood to relent, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung had on Tuesday rejected the AAP government's decision to transfer Home Secretary Dharam Pal.

Pal had issued the order appointing Meena following Jung's directives.

According to reports, the LG has declared "null and void" the order transferring Pal.

The conflict over authority over the bureaucracy has been a major source of confrontation between the AAP government and the LG.

Jung had yesterday appointed Meena superseding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's hand-picked chief SS Yadav. The AAP government had reacted sharply to the decision.

Earlier, an Additional Commissioner-level officer used to head ACB but the LG yesterday had elevated the rank of head of the probe agency from Additional Commissioner to Joint Commissioner.

Meena is currently serving as Joint Commissioner of New Delhi range and the LG's order said he has been given additional charge of ACB.