The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Tamil Nadu Government to respond within two weeks to a petition filed by IPS officer S Pramod Kumar (IPS:1989:TN) to consider him for the post of Director General of Police after the retirement of incumbent DGP C Sylendra Babu (IPS:1987:TN) on June 30. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice RN Manjula adjourned the hearing after directing the state government to respond to the petition within two weeks.
Senior IPS officer argued in his petition that as one of the state’s senior most police officers, he would be eligible for the DGP post if the extortion case that has been pending against him for over a decade is quashed by the court. He said that the CBI failed to obtain the Union Government’s prior approval under Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, which makes the extortion case liable to be quashed. Further, the charges in the extortion case have not been framed and remain pending for a long time.
In his petition, Kumar argued that he did not receive regular promotions and asked the court to quash the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) decision and direct the state government to consider him for the DGP post once the incumbent’s term is over.
The Tiruppur Central Crime Branch police had registered a case in 2009 against Paazee Forex Trading India Private Limited for having cheated depositors to the tune of Rs 870 crores. In 2012, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested S Pramod Kumar, the then Inspector General of Police (West Zone) in connection with the case.
