Alok Kumar to be reinstated soon

BENGALURU: Suspended Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Alok Kumar may shortly be reinstated after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wrote to the government quoting the Supreme Court ruling in restricting the suspension of government officers pending chargesheet to three months. A letter to the same effect has also been submitted to the State government from the Director General and Inspector General’s office seeking the reinstatement of the 1994 batch IPS officer.

Mr Kumar, who was then the additional commissioner (law & order), Bengaluru City was in May this year placed under suspension pending inquiry for his alleged involvement in the lottery scam, now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The case was earlier being probed by the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).  “The officer has not been indicted so far by any agency. He has neither been served a charge memo leave alone been chargesheeted. According to the SC ruling he should have been reinstated by now,” said an official source.

Though Mr Kumar has not sought any legal redress like approaching the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for revoking his suspension order, he has written four to five representations to the MHA and State government seeking justice. According to the SC directive this year, officials cannot be placed under suspension for more than 90 days in the absence of a chargesheet. Earlier suspension of officials was reviewed after six months by the review committees and often it was extended even as the chargesheet was pending.

Mr Kumar was not available for comments.