Dinesh Reddy appointed new DGP

The state government on Thursday cleared the name of 1977 Batch IPS officer V Dinesh Reddy as the next Director General of Police.

Mr Dinesh Reddy is presently the Director General of Vigilance and Enforcement. He will succeed his batch mate K Aravinda Rao, who had taken charge on August 31, 2010.

Mr Aravinda Rao reached the age of superannuation on Thursday. Mr Dinesh Reddy will serve as the state’s DGP till September 30, 2013, when he is due to retire.

He is expected to take charge later in the evening.

Home Secretary Goutham Kumar, former Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Dinesh Reddy and another senior contender Balwinder Singh who served for some time in New Delhi recently and senior IAS officer KR Nandan were said to be among the top of the list for the state police chief’s job.

However, indications are that Mr Dinesh Reddy’s appointment is likely to be challenged 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 Mr 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 IPS officer 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