Hyderabad: In a major embarrassment to the state government, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has revoked the suspension of senior IPS officer Umesh Kumar with immediate effect. In the order issued Thursday, the ministry said Umesh Kumar’s suspension on the grounds of “taking unauthorised leave’’ was not justified and untenable. This is perhaps the first instance of MHA overruling the state government’s decision to suspend an IPS officer.
The order revoking Umesh’s suspension (no. 26011/38/2012) came a day after the state government is understood to have sent a list of names of IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for appointment of the new DGP. The list includes the name of Umesh Kumar along with other officers who attained the rank of director-general on the day when the government appointed V Dinesh Reddy as DGP in June last year. The list was sent in accordance with a directive of the Supreme Court which refused to strike down a High Court order annulling the appointment of Dinesh Reddy as DGP.
A 1977 batch IPS officer, Umesh Kumar was placed under suspension on June 19. He appealed to MHA on June 29, stating that he could not attend office from June 12 to 18 due to unavoidable circumstances and even submitted a leave application. Umesh Kumar contended that availment of casual leave for six days cannot be construed as absconding from duties. The state government, in its order (GO 329) suspending Umesh, had said that the IPS officer was found unauthorisedly absent and said he applied for leave only to cover up his absence.
Comments
0 comment