Hours after being accorded relief by the Delhi High Court, which struck down a plea by the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government to restrict him from functioning as the head of its anti-graft unit, the chief of the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) abruptly replaced his Station House Officer.
Inspector Vinay Malik, who had been deputed as the SHO of the ACB police station, was replaced by Inspector Brij Mohan in what an informed police source said was a move to “punish him for his role” during a recent tussle between Joint CP Mukesh Meena and Additional Commissioner Surender Singh Yadav over access to FIR records. According to a senior police officer, the move also aimed at taking Mr. Malik “out of the equation” given his “political ambitions and inclination for the AAP”.
“The transfer was necessary for the smooth functioning of the ACB as a complete unit; there is no room for political sympathies of any kind or any hue given the nature of the assignment,” said a source. On June 26, The Hindu was the first to report on how the battle for supremacy between the Centre and the Delhi Government over the latter’s ACB had assumed dangerous proportions what with a “confrontation underlined by life-threatening implications” between its twin chiefs.
