HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court will pronounce its order on Friday on a writ petition challenging the appointment of B Shivadhar Reddy as Director General of Police (Head of Police Force).
Justice Pulla Karthik heard the matter on Thursday. Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy appeared for the state, Additional Solicitor General B Narasimha Sharma for the Union of India, Ajay Kumar Kulkarni for the Union Public Service Commission, along with counsel for the Home Ministry and B Shivadhar Reddy.
The petition, filed by T Dhangopal Rao, contends that the appointment violates Supreme Court directions. The petitioner sought suspension of the appointment and a direction to appoint a regular DGP in line with the guidelines.
Advocate General Sudarshan Reddy submitted that Telangana had complied with earlier court directions by forwarding a panel to the UPSC, which was returned. He argued that the UPSC, bound by court directions, ought not to have returned the list without citing the relevant judicial order.
Referring to Andhra Pradesh, he said the UPSC had processed a proposal despite a gap of nearly 11 years between 2014 and 2025, leading to a DGP appointment. He sought a direction to the UPSC to reconsider the state’s recommendations.
Additional Solicitor General Narasimha Sharma said the Ministry of Home Affairs had no role in the process and that correspondence between the state and the UPSC was outside the scope of the writ.
For the UPSC, Ajay Kumar Kulkarni submitted that Telangana forwarded its recommendations after a delay of seven years, noting that the previous panel was sent in 2017 before the then DGP’s retirement.