Telangana HC asks registry to check for suo motu PIL filed over police dept vacancies, cites Supreme Court order

In the PIL filed by petitioner Akinidhi Guru Teja, the chairman of Help the People Trust, his counsel Barkat Ali Khan cited a 2019 Supreme Court order that had directed all high courts to take up the issue of “vast number of sanctioned vacancies” in the police department on a suo motu basis and urged the state to fulfil its constitutional and legal obligations.

The petitioner claimed that while other states, like Gujarat, had acted on the apex court’s directive, the Telangana High Court had not.

During the hearing, the petitioner presented data obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application, revealing that out of 91,169 sanctioned posts in the police department in Telangana, 14,874 remain vacant. This includes 11,713 constable posts and 739 sub-inspector posts, the filling of which, the petitioner argued, is essential to maintain law and order. The petition insists that the state must ensure law enforcement, prevent crimes, and uphold citizens’ rights to life, dignity, and gainful employment.

The petitioner also drew the court’s attention to a police recruitment calendar, which had scheduled notifications for these posts in April, but no such notifications have been issued to date. The last recruitment notification was in 2022, and although appointment letters were handed out in 2024, those were related to previous recruitments. No fresh recruitment process for these vacant posts has been initiated, Khan contended.

He also argued that insufficient numbers of constables and sub-inspectors lead to delays in investigations and the completion of legal work, besides impeding the speed of trials, which was categorically mentioned in a landmark judgment in Hussain Ara Khatoon vs State of Bihar.

In response, the court acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and directed its registry to search the database and make inquiries to determine if any such suo motu PIL had been taken up by the court following the Supreme Court’s order. The court stated that a usual search methodology might not reveal a suo motu case and, therefore, a special inquiry was necessary. The matter has been adjourned to allow the registry to complete its investigation and present a note to the court.

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