High Court dismisses DGP Dinesh Reddy's petition against CAT move

The Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed a plea by state police chief V Dinesh Reddy against the Central Administrative Tribunal's (CAT) decision denying him interim relief to continue in the post until the end of September.

A division bench of Justice Ashutosh Mohanta and Justice D Seshadri Naidu dismissed the DGP's 'house motion'. Based on a complaint filed by senior IPS Officer Umesh Kumar, the Supreme Court had ordered a CBI probe against Reddy for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets along with his wife on September 6. The apex court had also criticised the AP state government for not probing Reddy when a copy of the complaint against him was forwarded by the Centre.
Earlier, Reddy had moved the AP High Court against the CAT's decision denying him interim relief after he challenged the AP government move not to extend his services in the wake of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry pending against him for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Reddy is to be superannuated on September 30. On September 26, the AP state government rejected his representation in the case, after which Reddy filed an application with CAT seeking interim relief to continue for another year.

However, the CAT bench too rejected his interim relief application. In August, the AP state police chief had filed an application to CAT contending that his appointment as DGP was made in accordance with the directions of Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case, wherein a state government sends three names of senior-most IPS officers to the Union Public Selection Commission (UPSC) from among whom one is selected, as per the commission's recommendation.
 Reddy had said that Supreme Court's directions are specific that an appointee to the post of a DGP should have been in office for a minimum period of two years, from the date of his appointment, irrespective of the date of superannuation. PTI