Union home ministry says not party in ACB case

The union home ministry on Monday said it was not party to the case in which Delhi High Court held that the city government's Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) had "jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute" Delhi Police officials and would look into the issue after studying the judgment.

"MHA (ministry of home affairs) was not a party in this case. MHA will obtain a copy of the judgment and take appropriate legal recourse in the matter," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court dismissed the bail plea of a head constable arrested by the ACB on corruption charges, saying that the ACB has the "jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute" Delhi Police officials.

The arrest of Anil Kumar, who was head constable at Sonia Vihar's police station and arrested earlier this month while allegedly extorting money from a scrap dealer in the area had set off a turf war between Delhi Police and the city government. While the ACB booked him on corruption charges, police hit back, registering an FIR of kidnapping.

Justice Vipin Sanghi held that the ACB "has jurisdiction" over Delhi Police officials and also questioned the 2014 notification of the union home ministry which allows the ACB to prosecute employees only of the Delhi government but not of the central government. Delhi Police comes under the administrative control of the union home ministry.