NEW DELHI: Giving a Phantom punch to the Kerala government, the Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Pinarayi regime’s order removing DGP T P Senkumar from his post. The apex court ordered his reinstatement as the state police chief and said officers cannot be made scapegoats by politicians.
“The DGP has been unfairly treated by the state government,” said a Bench comprising Justice M B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta while rating Senkumar as an outstanding officer.
In the wake of the order, DGP Loknath Behera, the present state police chief, will have to be replaced by Senkumar. The 56-page judgment reproduced the The New Indian Express report in which the DGP defended his role in the probe into the Puttingal temple fireworks tragedy.
The Bench also took exception to the government’s submission that Senkumar’s appointment was irregular. “We are disturbed with the view expressed in the detailed counter affidavit and elsewhere the appointment of the appellant was irregular, if not illegal. If that is so and the State government of Kerala is bent upon making irregular/illegal appointments to sensitive posts, then no one can help God’s Own Country,” the court said. In its verdict, the SC relied heavily on the Prakash Singh case wherein guidelines were laid down for police personnel.
“The DGP should have a fixed tenure of two years. The removal or displacement or transfer of an officer from a sensitive post requires consideration and good reasons that can be tested so the officer is not dealt with as a pawn in a game. Unfortunately, the somewhat exacting standards are absent in the present case and the appellant was displaced from the post of state police chief summarily and without reasonable cause,” the court observed.
“Considering overall facts and preceding events and incidents, we set aside the judgment of the Central Administrative Tribunal and order reinstatement of Senkumar,” the court said.
The SC was hearing a plea filed by Senkumar seeking his restoration into service. The top cop in his petition said his removal was a violation of Section 97(2)(e) of the Kerala Police Act under which he is entitled to a two-year tenure but was removed within a year.
While the state government defended its decision to remove him for protecting police officers in the Puttingal tragedy, senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing on behalf of Senkumar termed it a political conspiracy. The court in its ruling set aside the reasoning of the government Senkumar did not take action against the errant officers allegedly responsible for the tragedy.
“If the appellant failed to take any action against the errant police officers, the entire machinery starting from the Chief Minister down to the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary are equally to be blamed. What is more important in this context is the recommendation to take action against the errant police officers was made to the Chief Minister and not to the appellant,” the court said. The court also took note of Senkumar’s role in overseeing the Jisha murder case.
“The only mention in the note against the DGP was he remained silent on why no action was taken against certain officers who had delayed the recording of the FIR in the Jisha case or the delay in forwarding the FIR to the magistrate concerned. The note indicated poor leadership exhibited on part of Senkumar. But the DGP can’t be held responsible for investigation in the case which was not headed by him.”