HC orders reinstatement of suspended IPS officer, a day before retirement
Andhra Pradesh HC rejects state govt's plea to stay CAT order revoking suspension of IPS officer A B Venkateswara Rao, orders his reinstatement before retirement.
Hyderabad The Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday set aside a petition filed by the state government seeking an interim stay on the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which revoked the suspension of senior IPS officer and former state intelligence chief A B Venkateswara Rao and called for his reinstatement into service, people familiar with the matter said.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Satti Subba Reddy and P Venkata Jyothirmayi after hearing the arguments of the government and Venkateshwara Rao, delivered its judgement on Thursday, asking the government to follow the CAT order and reinstate the suspended IPS officer.
The judgement came as a big relief to the 1989-batch officer, as it was delivered a day before his retirement from service on attaining the age of superannuation.
Soon after the judgement, Rao met chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy and submitted him a letter, along with the copy of the High Court order, requesting him to reinstate him in service so that he can retire in service on Friday.
“The chief secretary is yet to respond to the IPS officer’s request,” a senior official in the state secretariat said on condition of anonymity,
Rao, who served as the state intelligence chief during the previous Telugu Desam Party regime, had been under suspension since February 8, 2020, months after the YSR Congress party led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power in the state.
He was charged with procuring security-related equipment like aerostat and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from Israel during his tenure without following rules.
He was reinstated in May 2022, following an order from the Supreme Court in April 2022, that an All India Service officer cannot be kept under suspension for more than two years. Though he was posted as commissioner of printing and stationery, he was suspended within a few days on the same charges, stating that he cannot continue in the service since investigation of the criminal charge against him had been pending and there was a likelihood of him influencing the witnesses relating to the trial.
Rao immediately moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) questioning his second suspension.
After prolonged hearing of arguments, the Hyderabad bench of the CAT on May 8, 2024, ordered that an officer cannot be suspended twice on the same grounds. It directed the government to reinstate Rao into service with all pay and allowances along with other consequential benefits.
On May 21, the state government moved the High Court, challenging the CAT orders. It contended that the CAT order should be set aside as it was vitiated by errors of law and certain findings that were perverse and contrary to records.
“The CAT ignored the All-India Service Rules of 1969, which clearly enumerate the circumstances on the basis of which the power of suspension could be exercised by the competent authority in an appropriate case,” Deputy Secretary to Government (Personnel) G Jayaram said in his petition.