Delhi Waqf Board corruption scam: Manish Sisodia appears before ACB for questioning

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday appeared before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with the alleged irregularities in Delhi Waqf Board.

Earlier this month, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung dissolved the Delhi Waqf Board over alleged irregularities while handing the matter to CBI for a probe.

Jung had also declared Mehboob Alam's appointment as the Waqf Board CEO as illegal and referred all matters involving alleged rule violations and corruption to the CBI.

Reacting to LG's move, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the order came because Waqf Board chairman Amanatullah Khan was targeting "big vested interests" responsible for corruption in the religious endowments body.

Notably, Sisodia has also been summoned by the ACB in connection with its probe into an alleged recruitment scam in Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

Sisodia was summoned by the ACB last week for questioning in the case of illegal recruitment at the DCW.

DCW is under the ACB scanner for arbitrarily appointing 85 people in the past year. Around 90 percent of contractual staff of the commission, led by Swati Maliwal, are members of Aam Aadmi party (AAP).

The ACB of the Delhi government has slapped a FIR against Maliwal over complaints of alleged irregular recruitment.

Earlier, the ACB had raided Maliwal`s office following a complaint by Barkha Shukla Singh alleging that it was indulging in illegal practices of appointing its party associates to plum posts.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asserted that there are numerous decisions of the AAP government which the importance which Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to be reversed through Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, like the removal of DCW chief Swati Maliwal.

The ACB had earlier twice questioned DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal. An FIR was also registered against her.

The FIR was lodged under Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, apart from Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, following a complaint filed on August 12 by former DCW chief Barkha Singh Shukla in connection with the illegal recruitments.