HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has given a new twist to the ongoing battle between DGP V Dinesh Reddy and senior IPS officer Umesh Kumar. The court has ordered the state government to appoint an IAS or IPS officer of unimpeachable integrity to enquire into the allegations being traded by DGP V Dinesh Reddy and senior IPS officer Umesh Kumar
Simultaneously, the court also ordered initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Dinesh Reddy and additional DGP of the Crime Investigation Department SV Ramana Murthy for suppression of material facts in affidavits filed by them.
In addition, it quashed a lower court order granting a pardon to former journalist T Sunil Reddy, the accused no. 1 in a case pertaining to the forgery of a letter intended to defame Dinesh Reddy and thereby scuttle his chances of becoming the DGP.
Umesh Kumar and Dinesh Reddy belong to the 1977 batch and both have been engaged in a legal battle. Umesh is senior to Dinesh in the batch. He alleged that the DGP and his wife held disproportionate assets. While, Dinesh Reddy complained to the chief secretary, levelling several allegations against the former, which included claiming a gallantry award on the basis of fake documents, selling bullet-proof jackets to naxalites and indulging in graft in the purchase of shoes and uniforms for police personnel.
The court also quashed charges against petitioner Umesh Kumar under section 468 of the IPC. However, in relation to other charges against him under sections 471, 120B and 201 of the IPC, proceedings will continue.
Pronouncing a judgement on three petitions filed by Umesh Kumar, Judge Ramesh Ranganathan directed the government to ensure that the enquiry officer is senior in rank to both Dinesh Reddy and Umesh Kumar with no personal relations with either. The enquiry officer would have to be appointed within two weeks and the probe completed within four months thereafter.
Judge Ranganathan remarked that the allegations and counter allegations by the two officers have not only tarnished their own images, but also that of the entire police force in the state. “As both claim to have a clean record and express pride in their integrity, they have nothing to fear if the allegations are inquired into,” he said.
Though the DGP’s office continued to say nothing on the High Court order, top sources indicated an appeal is very much an option lest questions be raised over his continuance in the post while facing an inquiry.
Sources told The Sunday Standard that after the High Court verdict, Dinesh Reddy held confabulations with his aides on the options open to him. The general view was that there was no choice but to go in for an appeal, though the grounds of it were still being discussed.
Dinesh Reddy is understood to have called on Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday and again on Thursday. What transpired between the two officers is not known, fuelling speculation on how the political leadership intends to handle the issue in the wake of the High Court directive.
In case they do go in for an appeal, both Dinesh Reddy and Ramana Murthy will have to do so in their personal capacities since the matter does not involve the state government.