HYDERABAD: A division bench of the High Court comprising chief justice Nisar Ahmad Kakru and justice Vilas V Afzulpurkar on Tuesday stayed the order given by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which had set a side the appointment of K Aravinda Rao as the director-general of police (HOPF).Earlier, CV Mohan Reddy, the counsel for principal secretary (home) P Gautam Kumar who had moved the CAT against the appointment of Aravinda Rao, said that the directions given by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case cannot be overruled by the High Court and a stay should not therefore be granted. When the bench wanted to know if Prakash Singh's judgment can be applied in the present case since the post of DGP (HOPF) was created subsequently with an amendment to IPS pay rules in 2008, the defence counsel said the Supreme Court, besides several High Courts, had repeatedly held that the judgement in Prakash Singh case stood good. “So I pose a question to myself whether this court can overrule the directions given by the Supreme Court?'' Mohan Reddy said. Replying to the contention of the petitioners _ state government and IPS officer V Dinesh Reddy _ that the tribunal had ruled out a few officers though they were eligible for the cadre of DGP, Mohan Reddy urged the court to direct the government to send the list of all officers eligible for appointment as HOPF if the court found merit in the petitioners' argument. Gautam Kumar's counsel said that the state had been creating several cadre posts in excess of the number the Union government had granted. “Prakash Singh case judgment was given to stop politicisation of DGP appointments and prevent governments from appointing officers of their choice in violation of the rules,'' Mohan Reddy contended. “What is the apprehension of the state government in sending the names to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)? Why does the government want to keep the selection of DGP in its hands and pick up only an officer of its choice?'' Reddy asked. However, the division bench granted the stay and posted the matter for next month. Aravinda Rao will retire on June 30.On Monday, the advocate-general, appearing on behalf of the state government, and the counsel of Dinesh Reddy had told the court that the CAT's judgment had several errors and anomalies.
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