Court tells ACB chief to keep off MPSC scam probe

MUMBAI: In an unprecedented order, the Bombay high court on Tuesday directed chief of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Ravindra Singh Negi to keep away from the investigations in the multi-crore Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) scam.
The commission’s former chairperson, Shashikant Karnik, is the main accused in the case.
A division bench of Chief Justice C.K.Thakker and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud observed that the conduct of Mr Negi, an officer of the rank of Director general of police, was anything but bona fide. The judges directed investigating officer S.B. Pujari, who is an assistant police commissioner of the ACB, to continue with the investigations under the supervision of ACB joint commissioner Anil Dhere.
The order came in response to a public interest litigation filed by two city advocates questioning Mr Pujari’s transfer in February from Mumbai to the police training school in Solapur.However, within a month of the transfer, the state was forced to reinstate Mr Pujari on February 26 in deference to the Supreme Court’s wishes.
The state had transferred Mr Pujari just when he was about to arrest a sitting MPSC member, Saili Joshi. Over 300 MPSC candidates had allegedly paid between Rs 3 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs to get jobs. On Tuesday, Mr Negi submitted an affidavit denying allegations made by the petitioners in the PIL that he was interfering in the investigation.
He said when Mr Dhere, based on Mr Pujari’s report, had sought his permission to arrest Ms Joshi, he had sought legal opinion since he “had some doubts’’. He said he was now examining a report submitted by Mr Dhere on April 14 about the progress made in the investigation.
Advocate general Goolam Vahanvati said Mr Negi had acted in a bona fide manner, but the judges who went through the files in court, remarked that his conduct was anything but that. The judges said Mr Negi had last December written in the files that Ms Joshi should not be arrested without further investigation.