The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the state government to respond to the petitions of two IAS officers, who have challenged a report alleging corruption at the Delhi Nagrik Sehkari Cooperative Bank, PTI reported.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher has also asked the Centre and Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to explain their positions on the matter.
In a report tabled in the Assembly on January 15 and adopted two days later, the Assembly’s Committee of Petitions recommended “criminal proceedings” against the IAS officers for alleged irregularities at the bank. The panel accused the two of providing “help and aid to the corrupt” and also alleged that only 14,000 of the bank’s 67,000 members were found to be real.
In their petitions, IAS officers JB Singh and Shurbir Singh, who is currently the chief executive officer of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, questioned the Speaker’s right to refer the matter to the petitions committee as the Delhi High Court had begun to hear the matter. The two officers had recently moved the High Court, challenging the notice that the Question and Reference Committee of the Delhi Assembly had issued to them for not appearing before it.
Earlier in March, the Aam Aadmi Party had alleged that Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash had accused two party MLAs of assaulting him in an attempt to divert attention from the alleged fraud. The High Court will hear the case next on April 11.
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