“If I am responsible for one murder case, will the Chief Minister take responsibility for nine political murders in Kerala?” This was the argument put forth by counsel for former State DGP T.P. Senkumar in the Supreme Court on Monday.
Mr. Senkumar was shunted out of the DGP post within two days of the current LDF government taking over. The State blamed his performance in the Dalit law student murder case and the Puttingal fire tragedy as reasons for his removal.
Arguing before a Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur, senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for Mr. Senkumar, said his removal from the top police post was guided by sheer political motives.
“My performance is 9 put of 10. I was in no way directly responsible for the two cases [Puttingal and law student murder]. If that is the case, 96 police officers were transferred by this government. Nine political murders occurred in the State. Will the Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister, take the responsibility? If not, why should the Chief Minister say I should take the responsibility?” Mr. Dave submitted.
Mr. Dave said there should be “some semblance of law”.
“I have an outstanding record. According to Your Lordships’ decision in Prakash Singh, top police officers should have a minimum tenure of two years. Any removal of them should be done by the State government in consultation with the State Security Commission under the Kerala Police Act of 2011,” Mr. Dave, along with advocate Haris Beeran, submitted.
Justice Lokur orally remarked that posting and removal of police officers has become “extremely subjective”.
“We need to consider this case,” Justice Lokur said. The court issued notice to the State for passing interim orders.
Appearing for the State, senior advocate P.P. Rao, said the file on Mr. Senkumar had started moving before the LDF government came to power. “It was only continued action.”
Mr. Rao said there was no need to consult the State Security Commission as this was not a case of “removal” as alleged, but transfer. “At the highest level, a DGP should have peak performance.”
Mr. Senkumar had moved the Supreme Court against the decisions of the Central Administrative Tribunal and the Kerala High Court to not interfere in his removal as DGP.
