ACB chief Meena's powers curtailed by Kejriwal govt

July 1, 2015

New Delhi, Jul 1: AAP government has curtailed the powers of Lt Governor-backed Anti-Corruption Branch chief MK Meena, asking him to only look after training work and monitoring of cases undergoing trial till the High Court decides on the validity of his appointment.

The government has asked ACB's Additional Commissioner S S Yadav, backed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, to supervise the main work including investigation and functioning of the anti-graft body, days after the Delhi High Court refused to restrain Meena from entering office as sought by the Delhi government.

In his order, Vigilance Director Sukesh Kumar Jain also said that Yadav shall report directly to him. According to the Kejriwal government, director of vigilance department of Delhi government is the head of ACB and is competent to allocate work among the officers in the anti-graft body.

"MK Meena has been posted as Joint Commissioner of Police in ACB. Since, there is no regular post of Jt Commissioner of police in ACB and as the matter is sub-judice, Meena will look after the work of training and monitoring of under trail cases till the final outcome of ongoing proceedings in the High Court," Jain said.

"SS Yadav, additional commissioner of police ACB, shall supervise the work of DCPs, ACPs, inspectors and SHO of police station of ACB. He shall also supervise all investigations inquiries and other functions of ACB and its police station.

"So branch officers shall work under his direct control and supervision. He shall report directly to Director (vigilance)," he said in his order.

As per Jain's order, the work allocation in respect of all other officers ACB shall remain unchanged. They shall continue to discharge their duties and report to their supervisor in hierarchy.

Yesterday, government cancelled three orders issued by Meena through which he appointed Inspector Brij Mohan as the new SHO replacing Inspector Vinay Malik.

The government's new move can further intensify the tussle between Lt Governor appointed Meena and AAP government backed Yadav who operates from the same premises.

The face-off between Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had resulted in the Delhi government's ACB having two chiefs.

On June 8, Joint Commissioner Meena, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service officer, took charge of ACB after he was appointed by Jung, superseding Additional Commissioner SS Yadav.

The AAP government had reacted by terming the appointment "illegal" and claimed that there was no post of joint commissioner in ACB.

However on June 29, Delhi High Court asked Meena to act in accordance with the law, while refusing to issue directions to restrain him from entering office as sought by the Delhi government.

Justice V P Vaish also declined Delhi government's pleas to stop Meena from removing the FIR book from ACB headquarter, recording new FIRs and seeking immediate removal of paramilitary personnel posted there.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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