Roy can continue till November 11: HC

The CAT had held that Roy superseded three other IPS officers senior to him. The tribunal had ordered for a fresh decision to be taken for appointment of Director General of Police within a period of four weeks which ends on November 6. The tribunal had stated that till such a decision is taken the officers shall continue in their respective posts.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice S A Bobde has however adjourned the hearing till November 11 after the court vacation.

The court has directed that the tribunal order will be binding till November 11 instead of November 6.

State government too is backing Roy in their petition, as Advocate General Ravi Kadam told the court that CAT’s order is not on par with the Supreme Court’s directives in Prakash Singh case.

The tribunal order came in the wake of an application moved by Suprakash Chakravarty, DGP (Commandant-General, Home Guard and Director, Civil Defence), challenging the selection proceedings relating to the appointment of former Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy as DGP in February this year.

Holding that the state was bound to consider the three officers who were senior to Roy (a 1974 batch officer) for state DGP’s post, CAT held that “the whole process of selection and appointment of A N Roy is untenable in law and on facts”. “Hence a direction is required to the state government to convene a meeting of review selection process/Departmental Promotion Committee by duly taking into consideration the three senior-most officers, including S S Virk and take a fresh decision in four weeks,” it had observed.

The tribunal also observed that the state’s submission regarding the impending decision to transfer J D Virkar and appoint Chakravarty as DG-Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) as the former is liable to be shifted out as per the Transfer Act which requires that an officer should be posted out after completion of three years’ tenure.

The High Court has however told the state that they can consider appointing Chakravarty as DG-ACB during this period. Kadam told the court that a decision in this regard would be taken soon.