A doubt has cost the Kerala government not just Rs 25,000 but its face, too. The SC on Friday imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kerala government which had sought further clarifications on a judgement which had asked the government to reinstate T.P. Senkumar as the DGP.
Maintaining that there is no lack of clarity in its previous judgement, the SC also went to the extent of saying that it knows how to handle the issue if its order is not obeyed. The bench comprising Justices M.B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta also issued notice to Chief Secretary Nalini Netto on the contempt plea filed by Senkumar and fixed the matter for hearing on May 9.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Senkumar, told the bench that the state government has "mocked" the judgement passed by the apex court, which had on April 24 directed the reinstatement of senior IPS officer as the state police chief.
The counsel representing Kerala government, however, told the bench that the reinstatement process was going on.
Kerala government will now have to file a reply on Monday, explaining why it should not be held guilty of contempt of court.
The verdict has furthered the political wrangling over the Senkumar case within the LDF. CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran has said that the verdict is a "huge setback to the government''.
"It is a lesson to the government,'' he said.
Taking a potshot at the long list of advisers to the chief minister, Pannyan said that all these happened because of them. "The penalty amount should be deducted from the advisers' salary,'' he said.
The opposition, as expected, is in a celebratory mood with all, including former chief minister Oommen Chandy, saying that the government had invited this shame on itself.
Senkumar was removed from the post of DGP in June last year. Following the reinstatement order, the Kerala government moved the Supreme Court, claiming that Senkumar cannot be reinstated as the state police chief. Seeking further clarification on the court’s judgement, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had contended that Senkumar was appointed as the Director General of Police (DGP) before his removal in June 2016 and, therefore, he cannot be reinstated as “Director General of Police & State Police Chief”.
In its application, the state government had argued that Senkumar was neither empanelled nor selected as the state police chief and he was holding the post as “DGP and Head of Police Force” when he was removed. The state government had said there was another person appointed as the state police chief.
Examining the Kerala Police Act 2011, which assures a minimum tenure of two years for DGPs, the court had held there was no justification in law to displace Senkumar before the end of his term. Senkumar was appointed in May 2015.
However, in his affidavit in the court, Senkumar said the CPM was acting maliciously against him since he had conducted an honest probe into the murder cases where CPM leaders were allegedly involved.
