Central administrative tribunal reinstates trainee IPS officer booked for harassing, intimidating wife for divorce

Acting on a petition filed by KV Maheshwar Reddy challenging the Union home ministry’s order dated December 12, CAT member BV Sudhakar ordered that the IPS trainee will be allowed to join the training course at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

The Central Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday quashed the Centre’s order suspending the appointment of a trainee Indian Police Service (IPS) officer after a criminal case was lodged against him for allegedly harassing his wife for a divorce.

Reddy was accused of threatening to divorce his wife Birudula Bhavana, 28, a Dalit employee working for the Indian Railways in Secunderabad, after he was selected to IPS.(Raj K Raj/HT Photo (Representative image))

Acting on a petition filed by KV Maheshwar Reddy challenging the Union home ministry’s order dated December 12, CAT member BV Sudhakar ordered that the IPS trainee will be allowed to join the training course at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

The tribunal member, however, said the appointment of 28-year-old Reddy would be subject to the final orders of the tribunal pending disposal of the criminal case against him.

Reddy was accused of threatening to divorce his wife Birudula Bhavana, 28, a Dalit employee working for the Indian Railways in Secunderabad, after he was selected to IPS.

Based on her complaint, police in Hyderabad’s Rachakonda registered the case against Reddy under Sections 498 A (harassment), 323 and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

According to the police, Reddy and Bhavana got married on February 9, 2018, as per the marriage certificate and photos. However, Reddy changed his mind after he cleared the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) this year.

The native of Kadapa, who lives in Keesara in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district, had been ranked 126 in the All India Civil Services Examination 2019.

Bhavana said ever since he got selected, he had been forcing her to give him a divorce so that he could marry another woman of his status. She said her parents had given their consent to her marriage with Reddy but he had not told his family about the wedding.

When Reddy started threatening her with dire consequences if she revealed to anybody about their marriage, Bhavana approached the police. Since Reddy got selected as an IPS officer, the police called him for counselling but he refused to accept Bhavana as a wife and insisted on divorce.

Following the registering of the first information report (FIR), the Union ministry of home affairs issued an order suspending his appointment, pending investigation by the police.

Reddy challenged the order saying that it could not suspend his appointment based on a mere registering of FIR. The home ministry’s counsel argued that the Centre had the power to suspend a trainee officer under rule 11 (2) of All India Services.

After hearing the arguments from both the sides, CAT quashed the ministry’s orders and directed that Reddy be allowed to undergo training.