Delhi LG nod to ACB probe against former CMO deputy secretary for bribery

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has given his nod to an Anti Corruption Branch-probe into alleged charges of bribery against an officer earlier posted as deputy secretary in the chief minister's office, official sources said on Saturday.

The officer was accused of seeking "monetary benefits" and also "harassing" a civil defence volunteer, they said.

An immediate reaction on the issue was not available from the Delhi government.

"The Lt Governor has granted approval to the ACB to conduct investigation against Mukul Manrai, the then Deputy Secretary in Chief Minister's Office (CMO), looking after Jan Samvad, the Public Grievance Management System (PGMS)," they said.

The approval was given under Section (17A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PoC Act), 1988. The officer was charged for allegedly demanding monetary gratification from a civil defence volunteer (CDV) for certifying his attendance register, sources said.

The officer, currently posted at the Revenue department, had also written to the Civil Defence office for removal of the volunteer who could not even get his last month's salary, they said.

"Similar complaints by hundreds of other CDVs were doing rounds and it was suspected that the officer using the cover of CMO had established a racket of monthly collections from the civil defence volunteers," sources said.

The complainant civil defence volunteer had also furnished a "video recording" of the accused officer demanding money, they said.

The complaint along with the audio recording as evidence, was received in November, 2017. But the matter was being shuffled among Directorate of Vigilance (DoV), General Administration Department, Administrative Reforms Department and the Education department, they said.

Upon receiving the complaint along with a video recording, the ACB began enquiry by sending the CD of the recording to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for authentication.

The FSL found the CD to be unaltered, un-tampered and genuine. The Directorate of vigilance, after having gone through the evidence recommended a probe in the matter by ACB, sources said.