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Journalism of Courage
The Telangana High Court Thursday directed the state government and other respondents, including the Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board (TSLPRB) and Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC), to submit a detailed report on existing police vacancies and a time-bound plan for filling them.
The directive was issued while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Keethineedi Akhil Guruteja of Help The People Charitable Trust. The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin, passed the order after reviewing the submissions made.
During the previous hearing on September 17, the court had directed the Registry to check the database for any suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) it may have initiated with regard to a large number of vacant posts within the state Police Department, based on the Supreme Court’s directions, and place it before the bench.
On Thursday, the court noted that the Registry had failed to file a report as previously directed to verify whether a suo motu PIL had been initiated in line with the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment in the ‘Manish Kumar vs. Union of India’ case. Advocate Barkat Ali Khan, representing the petitioner, then informed the court that a suo motu case had indeed been taken earlier and submitted judgment dated April 22, 2022, in WP (PIL) No. 45 of 2019 to the bench.
Khan further submitted that although the suo motu proceedings were complied with in line with the Supreme Court’s directions, the specific issue of police appointments, which was initiated by the ‘Manish Kumar vs. Union of India’ case, remained unaddressed. He pointed out that the Supreme Court had expressly instructed the state to initiate steps “for filling up the vacant posts in the police and state Armed Forces so that the police forces do not remain overburdened and also monitor it from time to time.”
In the absence of such a time-to-time monitoring mechanism, the vacant sanctioned posts have accumulated to 14,935 in the Telangana Police, including 11,713 Constable posts and 739 Sub-Inspector posts, Khan informed the court. He argued that this shortage places additional pressure on the existing workforce, affects law and order duties, delays investigations and also impacts public safety.
In an interlocutory application, Khan sought immediate directions for current vacancies as on the date of filing, the proposed recruitment plan and timelines for completing the recruitment process. The court allowed the request and instructed the state government, the Director General of Police, TSLPRB and TGPSC to file a comprehensive report detailing current vacancies as on the date of filing, the proposed recruitment plan and timelines for completing the recruitment process. The case has been posted for further hearing on December 29.
