Kejriwal won't be probed in DCW case as of now: ACB chief

New Delhi, Sep 21: Hours after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reacted sharply after an FIR was registered against him in connection with the "irregularities" in the functioning of the DCW, the ACB said it won't probe the case against him for now as his name "doesn't figure in the inquiry report".

ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena said Kejriwal, whose name figures in an FIR pertaining to "irregularities" in the functioning of Delhi Commission for Women, is not an accused in the case till now.

"Till now, we are not probing the role of Arvind Kejriwal since his name doesn't figure in the report. As on date, he is not an accused," he said, "In the FIR, the essence of the complaint is written. If someone gives a complaint, it is written verbatim in the FIR.

We don't have any power to manipulate the language of the complaint. This is procedural law," Meena said. The ACB had taken up the probe on a complaint by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh, who alleged that several AAP supporters were given plum posts in the women's panel since Swati Maliwal was made its chief.

Maliwal was on Monday booked by the Anti-Corruption Branch on charges of alleged irregularities. Singh, in her complaint, had listed 85 names who, she claimed, got jobs "without requisite credentials".

Meena said the CM hasn't been named in the inquiry report prepared on the basis of the preliminary inquiry. "He needs to read the report in totality and not in isolation. His name doesn't figure in the inquiry report.

The inquiry report will be considered final," he asserted. He said the inquiry is based on documentary evidence. "Till now, we have found irregularities in appointments made in DCW by Swati Maliwal and others," he said.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal had reacted angrily saying the ACB has registered the FIR against him at the "behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi". "In the FIR registered by the ACB, my name is also there...But it does not contain any detail on my alleged role.

One does not put the name of the Chief Minister in the FIR just like that," he had said. "It cannot happen without the Prime Minister's approval." ACB has already sent a notice to Maliwal that a team will be interrogating her on September 29 at her office, Meena said. He said other officers will also be probed.

"The role of Deputy Director (Finance), Delhi government is also under scanner and he has been summoned to explain why he authorised DCW as a body with financial autonomy," said Meena.

PTI