The Hyderabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday reserved its orders to Wednesday on the petition filed by Kurnool SP K Raghuram Reddy, who challenged his abrupt transfer as deputy police commissioner of south zone in Hyderabad city from the district.
The bench comprising justice P Swaroop Reddy and Ranjana Chowdary (member, administration) reserved its orders after hearing both the aggrieved SP and the state. While the state wanted the SP to first approach the police establishment board with a representation if he had any grievance, the counsel for the SP argued that there is no point in approaching a board that violated the dictates of its own creator i.e. the Supreme Court.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh’s case, has directed the states to establish a police establishment board comprising only senior IPS officers and to entrust to it the job of advising the state on transfers and postings of IPS officers. It is the case of the SP that the board instead of acting as shield to the IPS officers to insulate them from political pressures, is itself succumbing to the pressures of politicians. He also urged the tribunal not to equate the transfers of general officers and employees with the transfers of police officials.
Petitioner’s counsel J Sudheer argued that a policeman stands entirely on a different footing in this regard.
The bench too was very particular to elicit an answer from the state and also from the petitioner whether it is mandatory for the aggrieved officers to approach the same police board and treat it as a compulsory appellate forum.
According to Sudheer, the alternative remedy available to the aggrieved should be an efficacious platform and should not become a place for fulfilling an empty formality. The bench would pronounce its decision on Wednesday.
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