Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to clarify whether the Cabinet or the Executive wing of the state takes the final decision on the selection of the Director General of Police (DGP).
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice A. Rajasekhar Reddy was hearing a PIL by city resident Vijay Gopal in which he urged the court to quash the appointment of Mr M. Mahendhar Reddy as DGP and to peruse the record of his appointment.
The petitioner sought directions to strike down the Telangana Police (Selection and Appointment of DGP (Head of Police Force)) Act, which was adopted by the state government in 2018 from Andhra Pradesh.
He submitted that the Act was in violation of the directions given by the Supreme Court with respect to appointing the DGP and other police heads from the range of SPs in the Prakash Singh case.
In light of the apex court order, which states that the appointment of the DGP should be done in a transparent manner, Justice Radhakrishnan asked the government to explain the procedure that it has been following in selection of the head of the police force.
The Chief Justice asked the state government how it would instill confidence among the people that it was maintaining transparency in the process.
The bench also expressed apprehensions that the state government, which is also the political wing, can choose an officer of it choice to appoint as DGP.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that contrary to the Supreme Court judgment, the state had appointed Mr Mahendar Reddy as acting DGP in 2017, and then appointed him as the DGP. He informed the court that Mr Reddy would be in service till 2022 and therefore other eligible senior officers will be deprived of the opportunity to head the police force.
