62 vacant ACB posts to soon be filled, HC told

The Delhi High Court Wednesday disposed of a plea seeking recruitment of officials in the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) after the Delhi government informed it that it was taking steps on the petition.

The government told a bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Jayant Nath that it was soon going to hire officials for the vacant positions.

The court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal requesting directions to the government to fill the vacancies.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed on a Right to Information (RTI) reply received by the ACB where it was informed that 62 positions were vacant.

It cited media reports where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said recently that he had written to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung over staff shortage in the ACB.

The petitioner said the ACB submitted a report to the chief minister saying because of the staff shortage it sent the complaints received against public officers to the chief vigilance officer of the concerned departments.

The officer in return never informed the ACB on the action taken against the public officers, the petitioner cited the ACB as saying.

He told the court that the ACB was an important link in the criminal justice system and its efficient functioning was necessary to ensure that fundamental rights are protected.

As per a report by the National Crime Records Bureau, as many as 12,805 complaints were registered against police personnel in 2011 in Delhi, the PIL said.