Suspended police officer gets posted in Thoothukudi

 

“Yes, I received the order,” said a much-relieved officer when this newspaper contacted her. 

At present, four other IPS officers – Jaffer Sait, Pramod Kumar, Sampath Kumar and Varun Kumar – are under suspension due to various cases filed against them. DGP Archana Ramasundaram and Sathya Priya , who were suspended by state government for allegedly not following protocol while going on Centre deputation,  managed to fight back and get postings.

 

In June this year the Central Administrative Tribunal had directed the state government to reinstate the IPS officer while passing an order on Sathya Priya’s application.

 The tribunal noted that for the failure of the state of Tamil Nadu to pass an appropriate order sanctioning Sathya Priya tour on duty with the UNDPKO on the strength of the orders of the earlier government and to try to penalise the applicant because there was a change in the political regime in the state, does not appear to be proper, when the successive government had not passed any specific order withdrawing the sanction accorded by previous regime. 

 

When the fresh approval was sought in June 2012, the file was returned without rejection or approval. She was relieved on January 13 and she joined the UN Peace Keeping Force in South Sudan.

 

Within a few days of her return to Chennai and joining duty at the completion of one-year tenure, she was not given a posting but was placed under suspension for misconduct for accepting foreign assignment without government approval. She moved the CAT to quash suspension and disciplinary proceedings initiated against her.