After months of tug-of-war between Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit over functioning of the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch, the unit’s chief N Dilip Singh will soon get marching orders.

The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has been a bone of contention between Dikshit and Khanna for long, and Dikshit issued orders on May 21 saying all files sent to the L-G office by any department should first be put up to her, or the concerned minister.

The memo was especially aimed at the ACB.

“I have noticed that none of the files pertaining to the Vigilance Department is put up to me,” the letter stated. Quoting the National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, Dikshit said in the letter that each minister is responsible for the functioning of his or her department. “Since the Vigilance Department is under my office, all concerned files pertaining to (the) Anti-Corruption Branch should be put up to me,” she said in the letter.

On June 1, the Home Ministry informed Singh that he had been promoted from Additional Commissioner to the post of Joint Commissioner. The Delhi government then moved to inform the Home Ministry that since the post of Anti-Corruption Branch chief is for an officer of a Additional Commissioner-level, Singh should be moved out immediately.

Singh’s predecessor P N Agarwal, though, was a Joint Commissioner-rank officer and had served in the ACB for two years.  

Meanwhile, the proposal for expansion and increasing allowances of ACB officials is also stuck in the files. The proposal of one promotion and a 15-per cent incentive on gross salary had received in-principle nod from the L-G but is yet to see the light of day.

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