: In a setback to the State government, the Madras High Court on Thursday ordered that two senior IPS officers — Jaffar Sait and Pramod Kumar — who were suspended on various charges, be reinstated.
Mr. Sait, who wielded enormous influence as Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) during the DMK regime, was suspended soon after the AIADMK formed the government in 2011. Now, the court has held that his suspension was arbitrary and ordered that he be reinstated on or before January 18. No such deadline has been set in the case of Mr. Kumar.
Describing Mr. Sait as a “victim of prolonged suspension”, a Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and V. Parthiban said: “The prolonged suspension in the subject case is nothing but an arbitrary exercise of power and it was not a sound exercise of discretion. We, therefore, revoke the suspension with immediate effect.”
Mr. Sait was suspended on charges of helping his subordinates acquire housing plots under the discretionary quota by creating false records and thereby causing loss to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB). Besides, he obtained a TNHB plot in the name of his wife and entered into a joint venture with a builder.
Suspension from service
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) registered a case against him on July 23, 2011. Thereafter, he was suspended from service with effect from August 1, 2011, when he was serving at Headquarters, Mandapam, near Rameswaram.
Separately, the Bench ordered the reinstatement of Mr. Pramod Kumar, who was suspended following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the multi-crore Paazee scam.
“We quash the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the State against Pramod Kumar on the sole ground of the charge memorandum not having been approved by the Disciplinary Authority.
“We confirm the order passed by the CAT dated May 10, 2012, revoking the suspension,” the Bench said.
