CAT raps govt over Dinesh Reddy's appointment as DGP

Expressing its immense dissatisfaction, the Central Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday gave the government three weeks to submit a reply as to why it had appointed V Dinesh Reddy as the Director General of Police, without taking into consideration the seniority of the other IPS officers and also failing to consult the UPSC before finalising the appointment.

The CAT also took a serious note of the failure by the state government, Union Public Service Commission and DGP for not submitting a counter petition in connection with flouting the rules in the appointment of Mr Dinesh Reddy as the Director General of Police.

While admitting a petition filed by senior IPS officer and home secretary P Gautam Kumar challenging Mr Dinesh Reddy’s appointment, the CAT issued notices to the state government, the UPSC and the serving DGP.

Counsel Jonnalagadda Sudheer representing Mr Gautam Reddy told the CAT that the government has ‘repeatedly flouted the IPS cadre rules while finalising the DGP’s appointment.

He pointed out that the government has also violated an earlier Supreme Court ruling which made it mandatory for the state government to consult the UPSC before making such high level appointments.

The Supreme Court had also made it mandatory to give sufficient respect to seniority and integrity, Mr Sudheer pointed out to the Hyderabad Bench of the CAT, comprising of Justice P Swaroop Reddy and member Ranbir Singh.

With the state government sought time to submit its reply, the Bench expressed its serious displeasure and adjourned the petition to three weeks.

The CAT directed the State Government, Union Public Service Commission Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy to file their replies within three weeks without fail.

The challenge against the government’s decision to appoint Mr Dinesh Reddy was on expected lines before the Central Administrative Tribunal since he is not the senior most IPS officer. The state government is believed to have opted for him since he has more than two years of service left.

Earlier, in what was seen as a major embarrassment to the state government, the Central Administrative Tribunal had quashed hid predecessor Aravinda Rao’s appointment as the DGP and directed the state government to appoint a new state chief of police by June 9. However the deadline was later extended.

That order had come after senior Mr Gautam Kumar had sought the quashing of Mr Aravinda Rao’s appointment since ‘it was in violation of IPS cadre rules.’

Mr Gautam Kumar, presently Principal Secretary (Home), had urged the Tribunal to set aside Mr Aravinda Rao’s elevation to the DGP’s post, arguing that that the appointment had skipped the seniority list and hence was illegal, since it violated the rules of the IPS cadre.

Mr Gautam Kumar had said that he was sidestepped from the top job by Mr Aravinda Rao even though he belongs to the 1975 batch of IPS while the DGP is of 1977 batch.