The State government may not disturb Director General of Police T. K. Rajendran, who was among those who came under the CBI’s scanner in connection with the gutkha scam on Wednesday.
A top government source said, “He will not be relieved [of his post] until the CBI sends a report establishing his complicity.”
“Searches by themselves do not constitute proof of guilt. The presumption of guilt cannot be the basis for transferring any official from their current position,” the source explained.
‘A bad precedent’
But the AIADMK government’s current position is at variance with the one it adopted in relation to former Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao. In the wake of the Income Tax Department’s searches at Mr. Rao’s residence and a few other places including the office of the Chief Secretary at the Secretariat in December 2016, the government replaced him with Girija Vaidyanathan.
When this was pointed out, the source said the transfer of Mr. Rao back then could be described as a “bad precedent”.
Mr. Rajendran was formally appointed DGP on the day he attained the age of superannuation on June 30 last year. His term will expire in June 2019, as per the guidelines stipulated by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case, wherein it was stated that an officer shall be appointed as the head of the force for “a minimum period of two years,” regardless of the date of their superannuation. Mr. Rajendran, who belongs to the 1984 batch of the Indian Police Service was, in September 2016, made DGP (Intelligence) and given full additional charge as DGP.
