Hyderabad, April 30: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) verdict on the promotions of IPS 1977 officers to the rank of DGP has poured water over the chances of V Dinesh Reddy becoming DGP any time now.
Until the verdict Wednesday, there had been speculation that he was a favourite for the post when it falls vacant with retirement of K Aravinda Rao.
Since the CAT has held valid the promotion of K Aravinda Rao as DG and not as DGP, HOPF, from Sept. 1, 2010, only those officers who rose to the DGP rank on or before that date will be considered for the top post.
And Dinesh Reddy does not fulfill that criterion as he, as per the CAT verdict, became entitled to hold the post of DGP (in the HAG+ scale) only from Nov. 1, 2010.
Though CAT quashed the state government’s order elevating six additional DGPs of the 1977 batch to the rank of DGP, it said they would be entitled to hold the post of DGP in the HAG+ scale only from the date when vacancies arose.
Therefore, A Sivasankar became eligible from May 18, 2010, Umesh Kumar from June 16, 2010, both Aravinda Rao and Alok Srivastava from Sept. 1, 2010 while V Dinesh Reddy only from Nov. 1, 2010.
While Sivasankar became eligible as there was a vacancy in the additional post of DGP created to justify the promotion of R R Girish Kumar, Umesh became eligible as the government of India, during the cadre review, increased the number of cadre and ex-cadre posts to three each from the existing two each, making it a total of six.
Similarly, Aravinda Rao and Alok Srivastava became eligible following the vacancies caused by the retirement of SSP Yadav and R R Girish Kumar.
With Alok Srivastava himself retiring on Oct. 31, 2010, a vacancy arose and the next day, that is Nov. 1, Dinesh Reddy became eligible for the rank of DGP.
Further down, another officer, M Bhaskar is not entitled to hold a post of DGP since there is no vacancy.
In the case of M Alagar, there was no vacancy till his retirement on May 31, 2010 and therefore CAT said that the illegality in his promotion from May 18, 2010 cannot be rectified.
The tribunal has also ruled that those officers who are presently on central deputation should also be sent to UPSC for consideration for the post of DGP as they would also be eligible.
The names that are expected to be sent to UPSC would include — K R Nandan, P Gautam Kumar, Balwinder Singh (on deptuation with CBI, Delhi), A Sivasankar, Umesh Kumar, K Aravinda Rao and Alok Srivastava (though he is retired, he was DGP rank officer on Sept. 1).
However, Singh will retire in December this year and his chances of being considered appear bleak.
Moreover, sources say he is not inclined to come back to the state and intends to retire in the CBI itself.
This makes the contest keen as the government will have to select one among Nandan, Gautam Kumar, Sivasankar and Umesh Kumar.
Importantly, Sivasankar served as the intelligence chief for several years during the TDP regime.
Whether the government would consider him remains to be seen.
This, more or less indicates that the contest would essentially be between Nandan, Gautam Kumar and Umesh Kumar.
The length of service will be an important criterion. Nandan will retire in April 2012, Gautam Kumar in October 2012, Sivasankar in July 2012.
Umesh Kumar will retire in March 2014 while Aravinda Rao is due to retire in June this year.
Another aspect is that both Sivasankar and Umesh Kumar are empanelled by the government of India to hold the post of DGP while their other batch mates are not. Nandan and Gautam Kumar have been empanelled earlier.
–Agencies