A SLAP ON THE FACE OF TAMILNADU GOVT

Thanks:The NewIndian Express

“A HISTORIC verdict and a judicial precedent with far-reaching consequences” was how civil rights activists hailed the Madras High Court’s order quashing the appointment of Letika Saran as Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu.

While DGP R Nataraj, who challenged Letika’s appointment, declined comment on Friday, a legal website quoted his counsel A S Nandakumar as saying that similar cases had been filed in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.

“The Madras High Court has for the first time given a judgment on the issue which will have an important bearing,” he said.

It is the manner of Letika’s appointment in January that raised the hackles of informed public opinion in the State and now the court too seems to share their view.

While the Supreme Court directives of 2006 — issued in the Prakash Singh case — calls upon State governments to “ensure selection of the DGP from amongst the three seniormost officers of the department empanelled for promotion to that rank by the UPSC on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience,” no such thing happened in her case. It was just a brief, late night order.

No wonder, internationally recognised rights activists, such as Henry Tiphagane of People’s Watch saw her appointment “as contempt of the Supreme Court order” and the HC judgment as a fitting rebuttal.

“It is a slap on the face of the State government,” he told Express. “It has been taught a lesson.”

Describing the verdict as "historic", he said it strongly conveyed the message that the apex court's orders must be obeyed in letter and spirit. "The chief minister is also the home minister and has constantly been violating the SC orders," he said, citing the delay in the passage of the Tamil Nadu Police Reforms Bill encompassing the six directives of the apex court.

A retired DGP echoed Tiphagane, saying the government had set up a select committee under Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin to go into the Bill, but the panel was adopting delaying tactics.

Leading lawyer and activist Sudha Ramalingam said, “There must be transparency in the appointment of not only senior police officials, but also judges,” she said.

While the buzz in media circles was whether Nataraj, much talked about for his jail reforms, would make it to the top post this time, a senior IPS officer pointed out that Letika Saran would after all be among the three seniormost officers — after Nataraj and K Vijay Kumar — named in the new list to UPSC for empanelment and could end up as the DGP again!