Tribunal says DGP post to Aravinda is unlawful

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad,April 27: The Hyderabad Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday quashed the appointment of Mr K. Aravinda Rao as the state director-general of police by declaring that his appointment was illegal and in violation of Supreme Court directions in a previous (that of Mr Prakash Singh) case. The Bench permitted the state government to continue with Mr Rao as Head of the Police Force (HOPF) as an ad hoc arrangement in the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) not in the Apex Scale, till the appointment of a new HOPF.

State to challenge CAT’s decision on DGP post

The state government has decided to challenge the ruling of the CAT nullifying the appointment of the DGP, Mr K. Aravinda Rao, before the AP High Court. The Bench ruled that Mr Aravinda Rao’s promotion to DG, not DGP (HOPF), was valid from September 1, 2010. Mr Rao was appointed as the HOPF on August 31, 2010, after Mr Girish Kumar retired. A two-member bench comprising Ms Bharati Ray and Mr R. Santhanam, while allowing a petition filed by principal secretary to the home department, Mr P. Gautam Kumar, challenging the appointment of Mr Rao, directed the state government to take up the process of appointment of the new DGP afresh and complete it before June 1.

Mr Kumar had contended that Mr Rao was ineligible for the post of DGP and several eligible DG-ranked officers had been ignored. The bench declared that the action of the state government in adding six DG-rank posts to its cadre on May 17, 2010, without there being sufficient vacancies was in violation of IPS cadre rules and quashed the promotions of the six officials including Mr Aravinda Rao's.

The state government had promoted Mr Aravinda Rao, Mr A. Siva Shankar, Mr Umesh Kumar, Mr V. Dinesh Reddy and Mr Alok Srivastava. The CAT, however, held that the promotion of Mr Siva Shankar was valid from May 18 and of Mr Umesh Kumar from June 16, 2010, since two vacancies were available as on these dates in the rank of DGP (HAG scale).

The CAT said that the promotions of Mr Aravinda Rao and Mr Alok Srivastava to DGP (HAG scale) were valid from September 1, 2010 and the promotion of Mr Dinesh Reddy was valid from November 1, 2010. Referring to the case of Mr M. Bhaskar, another senior IPS officer who was promoted to the DG rank later, the tribunal held that his promotion was invalid till date because there was no vacancy in the DG rank posts and he would have to wait for his turn.The CAT ruled that the promotion of another IPS officer, Mr M. Alagar, to DGP (HAG plus) was invalid and could not be cured even from a subsequent date because he had already retired from service.

The Bench observed that his pension and other retirement benefits would have to be reworked accordingly. Referring to the selection process, the CAT directed the state government to forward the dossiers of DG rank officers, Mr K.R. Nandan, Mr P. Gautam Kumar, Mr A. Siva Sankar, Mr Umesh Kumar, Mr K. Aravinda Rao and Mr Alok Srivastava, along with those who are on the central deputation to the Union Public Service Commission within two weeks from Wednesday.

The Bench also asked the UPSC to short-list them and prepare a three-member panel from this and sent it back to the state which should select one from it before June 9, 2011. The Bench observed that if Mr Aravinda Rao was selected in the process, then the service he had rendered so far as the DGP HOPF would be found valid from the date of his appointment as the DGP HOPF. Otherwise, it would be considered as a notional holding of the post without any monetary benefits. The previous case pertains to the former director-general of the Border Security Force, Mr Prakash Singh, who had filed a public interest litigation seeking reforms in the Indian Police system. The efforts of Mr Singh led to a landmark judgement of the SC that set guidelines for the selection of head of the police force of states in India.