In a major setback to the Pinarayi Vijayan- led CPI (M) government in Kerala, the Supreme Court of India has overturned the Left government's decision to sack TP Senkumar as the Director General of Police.
The apex court bench, consisting of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta, on Monday, April 24 observed there was no merit in the removal of TP Senkumar and directed the government to reinstate him. It should be recalled that the police chief was removed from office soon after the LDF government assumed power.
In his arguments before the bench, senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who appeared for the former DGP, argued that his removal from the post was a violation of the Kerala Police Act and the All India Service Rules' He characterised the sacking as a personal vendetta by CPI (M).
Further, Senkumar argued that the decision to sack him was a violation of Section 97(2) (e) of Kerala Police Act, which guarantees a two-year tenure as DGP.
However, the Kerala government defended its action stating that he had failed to perform his duty in infamous Jisha murder case and the Puttingal fireworks tragedy.
The apex court, while hearing the case earlier, had taken a dig at the government and asked why it did not remove the current chief of police Loknath Behera even after the high drama at the Police headquarter during the protest carried out by Mahija, the mother of a Nehru college student Jishnu Pranoy, who committed suicide recently. The actions of police had also drawn flak from the public after police removed Mahija forcefully from the scene of protest.
