An attempt in vain

Even 24 hours prior to his retirement, DGP tries the legal route to stay on in his post

Outgoing Director General of Police (DGP) V. Dinesh Reddy will go down in the history of State police as the only IPS officer who tried in vain to secure extension of service even 24 hours before his superannuation.

He will also be the only DGP in AP who faced an inquiry by the CBI into allegations of having assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

The CBI inquiry ordered by the Supreme Court three weeks ago would continue even as he retires on Monday. He has already been examined by the CBI officials in Delhi and is to face the probe as a retired DGP.

Mr. Reddy’s pleas for extension of service, citing the Supreme Court ruling in the Prakash Singh case, is that his first appointment as DGP was set aside by the Central Administrative Tribunal’s Hyderabad bench. The petitioner in this case was the then Home Secretary Gautam Kumar, who sought to quash Mr. Reddy’s appointment citing the same reference of the apex court.

Mr. Kumar, an IPS officer of the 1975 batch, moved the CAT challenging the Government order dated June 30, 2011, appointing a junior Mr. Reddy as the DGP. He contended that the government had violated the apex court order by not sending a list of the three senior-most IPS officers to the UPSC for selection of the DGP.

After hearing the arguments, the CAT had set aside Mr. Reddy’s appointment, following which the Government re-appointed him as the DGP on September 29, 2012 following the due procedure laid down by the Supreme Court.

He quoted the apex court’s ruling which said the DGP of a State should be given a minimum tenure of two years irrespective of his or her superannuation. He maintained that he had completed only one year as head of the police force as per his appointment order of September 29, 2012.

The CAT and the High Court which he moved one after the other, however, ruled that he cannot be given extension.