Former State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar’s appointment as an administrative member of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) seemed to have suffered a short-term setback on Friday.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) has asked the Kerala High Court to resubmit the proposal to nominate Mr. Senkumar as a member of KAT after the disposal of cases/complaints stated to be pending against him in various fora.
K. Srinivas, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Personnel and Training, has communicated the CJI’s decision to the State government. The CJI has concurred with the High Court’s proposal to appoint V. Somasundaram, a retired bureaucrat, as an administrative member, KAT.
Mr. Senkumar was considered for the post in 2016 when there was no case pending against him. However, the government allegedly sat on the proposal for several months. Mr. Senkumar was constrained to move the High Court to get the State government to set the process in motion.
Consequent on his reinstatement as SPC by the apex court, Mr. Senkumar faced a slew of charges and complaints from various quarters, many of them at the fag end of his service.
For one, ADGP B. Sandhya complained to the government that Mr. Senkumar had risked the confidentiality of the investigation into the abduction and rape of a woman actor in Kochi in February. Subsequently, DGP Tomin Thachankery also accused Mr. Senkumar of verbally abusing him.
Certain private litigants moved the anti-corruption court here seeking to prosecute Mr. Senkumar for alleged corruption. (The court has found no merit in at least two such complaints.)
Consequently, the State government reported the cases and complaints pending against Mr. Senkumar to the Central government when the CJI was considering the High Court's proposal to nominate him to the KAT.
However, the CJI has not closed the door on Mr. Senkumar. Mr. Srinivas said in the communiqué that the CJI has "desired" the proposal to nominate Mr. Senkumar "may be resubmitted on receipt of the outcome of the cases/complaints stated to be pending before various fora."
Meanwhile, Mr. Senkumar moved the High Court seeking speedy disposal of the grievances against him.
