Neeraj Kumar was the Delhi Police chief during the Nirbhaya gangrape in December, 2012. He faced flak for the way the Delhi Police handled the case.
New Delhi: A bench headed by Delhi high court chief justice Rajender Menon has directed the Delhi Police's special cell to file a case against former CBI joint director Neeraj Kumar for fabricating documents and using pressure during a graft probe.
This comes as a major setback for Kumar, who was also the Delhi Police commissioner at the time of the Nirbhaya gangrape on December 16, 2012.
The high court on Tuesday dismissed two petitions that were filed by Kumar and Vinod Pandey, who was an inspector of the CBI during the graft probe. The high court ordered the special cell of the Delhi Police to register two FIRs against Kumar and Pandey, to be investigated by an ACP-level officer and also ordered to complete the investigation within two months.
Kumar allegedly fabricated documents and used pressure and threats to get them signed by accountant Sheesh Ram Saini during the course of an investigation against former deputy director of enforcement, Ashok Aggarwal.
The CBI had registered a case against Aggarwal, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer. He was heading a probe into a case of financial fraud and was alleged to have helped the accused.
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However, Aggarwal approached the Delhi high court against Kumar, the then joint director of the CBI who was supervising the probe against Aggarwal, and inspector Pandey. Following Aggarwal's petition, the court passed an order to file two cases against Kumar and Pandey in June, 2006.
The high court held that the conduct of Kumar and Pandey constituted criminal offences and was an onslaught on the life and liberty of people. Kumar and Pandey later challenged the high court order.
In the latest order, the division bench of the Delhi high court dismissed Kumar's petition challenging its order against him and upheld the findings of the single-judge bench against Kumar and Pandey.
Kumar had a controversial career as the Delhi Police commissioner, and the role of the Delhi Police in the Nirbhaya gangrape case was called into question. The case had shaken the entire country. Kumar also allegedly tweaked constable Subhash Tomar's death into death due to stone-pelting by a mob during Nirbhaya protests.
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