The appointment of Director General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy as Head of Police Force (HoPF) of Andhra Pradesh has been set aside by the A. P. High court on Thursday.
A writ petition filed by the State Government and Mr. Dinesh Reddy challenging the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal was dismissed by the High Court along with costs of Rs. 5,000.
A Division Bench comprising Justice goda Raghuram and Justice M. S. Ramachandra Rao said the the writ petition was filed on ‘specious, artificial and extravagant grounds'. The judges directed the State Government to start all over again the process of selecting the new head of the police force.
This process involves sending a panel of names of senior IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and selecting one among the three recommended by it. The High Court wanted Mr. Dinesh Reddy to be designated as in-charge HoPF and the process of appointing the new DGP completed within two weeks.
