ACB rebuts allegations of punitive transfers

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-01-18 22:32:27 |

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Jammu, Jan 18: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Saturday rebutted the claims suggesting that the recent transfer of personnel from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Jammu and Kashmir was a punitive action for exposing corruption.

As per the official handout, ACB said these claims were entirely misleading and factually incorrect.

"Transfer is a normal administrative procedure and an incidence of service, and the government remains committed to ensuring that efforts against corruption continue without disruption," the official statement reads.

The statement comes a day after 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that removal of SP Abdul Wahid from the Anti-Corruption Bureau raised questions about the government’s commitment to justice and accountability.

Meanwhile the official statement reads that one of the officers, transferred recently from the Anti Corruption Bureau had served in the organisation for more than six years, far exceeding the usual tenure for officers in such postings.

"The other two have also completed tenures of three years. These transfers were long overdue and in line with standard rotational policies followed across government departments," the official statement reads.

ACB said the claim that these officers were removed for challenging corruption was baseless.

"In fact, the process of personnel rotation in the Bureau was initiated in the year 2023, but due to certain administrative exigencies, these transfers got delayed," it reads. ACB said the attempts to portray a routine transfer as politically motivated, distort the facts and undermine public trust in institutions.

"None of these officers are associated with the investigation or supervision of investigation of any FIRs recently registered in the Anti Corruption Bureau," the official statement reads.

It reads that ACB remains fully operational and continues its mandate of investigating corruption cases without bias or external influence.

"Routine transfers do not affect the agency’s work or integrity, and the government remains committed to transparency, accountability, and due process in its fight against corruption," the official statement reads.

Earlier, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said that removal of SP Abdul Wahid from the Anti-Corruption Bureau raises questions about the government’s commitment to justice and accountability.

Taking to micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter) Mehbooba said that removal of Abdul Wahid & his colleagues from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) highlights the risks faced by officials who challenge corruption.

"It exposes nexus between the corrupt and most powerful. This action of punishing the whistleblower has revealed the government's true intentions behind using various agencies including ACB to raid properties of Kashmiris under the guise of corruption investigations," Mehbooba Mufti wrote on X.

"It Raises questions about the government's commitment to justice and accountability," she said.

Earlier, the senior police officer at ACB had revealed about the irregularities allegedly committed by two officials of Srinagar Smart City Limited during execution of works