In Arvind Kejriwal vs Lieutenant Governor, a Fresh Flashpoint Over Appointment of Bihar Cops

Five Bihar Police personnel have joined Delhi's ACB after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested other states to depute policemen for it. Sources said he has sent requests to non-BJP chief ministers like Bihar's Nitish Kumar, West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik in Odisha to help fill vacancies in the understaffed ACB.

Signalling the beginning of a new battle, the Lieutenant Governor's office said this morning that it has so far received no "proposal for the deputation of such personnel from outside Delhi Police."

It emphasised, "The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) Delhi, being a police station, functions under the authority, control and supervision of the Lt. Governor, a position that has also been clarified by the Ministry of Home Affairs", referring to the Centre's controversial order of May 21.

Mr Kejriwal's AAP has hit back at Mr Jung with senior leader Ashutosh saying, "The Lieutenant Governor is being controlled and directed by the Centre. The Lieutenant Governor is becoming a hurdle." He also alleged, "The BJP doesn't want a strong ACB in Delhi."

BJP's Nalin Kohli countered, "Mr Kejriwal is consistently seeking authority where he cannot. The constitutional position is clear but he wishes to probably behave like an extra constitutional authority and that's not permitted. So if he does something that is not what he is entitled to do then the Lieutenant Governor will certainly try to bring that to their notice."

An earlier episode in the battle for control between Mr Kejriwal and Mr Jung is in court now, where the Delhi government has challenged the Centre's order that the Lieutenant Governor is the final authority on administrative matters like the appointment of bureaucrats and the Delhi Police.

The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to explain its notification at the next hearing. The High Court had earlier described the order as "suspect," but the Supreme Court has directed that future hearings should not be influenced by that remark.

Mr Kejriwal has sought support from other chief ministers over what he calls the Modi government's attack on the federal structure. AAP wants full statehood for Delhi, where the Centre controls key functions through the Lieutenant Governor.

The Delhi Police and the state government's ACB have recently faced off after some of the former's personnel were arrested by the anti-graft unit in cases of alleged bribery.

The move to induct policemen from Bihar and other states is seen as aimed at reducing the ACB's reliance on the Delhi Police. A request for nearly 600 officers is pending with the Delhi Police, who say they have a staff crunch.