New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday reinstated beleaguered 1989-batch IPS officer Sanjay Kundu as the Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police, a post from which he was ordered to be shifted out by the state HC for allegedly attempting to coerce a businessman to resolve a civil dispute with the acquaintance of the top cop.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra accepted the argument of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi that the HC had no jurisdiction to order shifting of the DGP and that the state government could not have posted Kundu as special secretary Ayush, a non-policing bureaucratic post.
The bench said, “Consequences of shifting an IPS officer from the DGP post are serious. Kundu was shifted to the post of principal secretary Ayush. Such an order could not have been passed by the HC without giving an opportunity to him to contest.”
Prior to appointment as DGP on June 1, 2020, Kundu was principal secretary to CM Jai Ram Thakur and held the charge of principal secretary (excise, taxation, and vigilance). He had served as a joint secretary in the Union water resources ministry where his responsibilities included policy, planning, river development and conflict management.
The CJI-led bench said the HC order directing Kundu’s shifting out from DGP post “suffered from patent error of jurisdiction and an order having serious consequences as the HC proceeded in violation of principle of natural justice by not giving an opportunity to Kundu to furnish his response” to a suo motu proceedings initiated based on the businessman’s letter petition alleging harassment by the DGP.
However, the bench primed the HC direction to the state government to constitute a Special Investigation Team comprising IG-level officers to probe all the FIRs lodged against the businessman and the DGP. The bench added that the IG level officers would not be amenable to any direction or supervision of the DGP while rejecting Kundu’s plea for CBI inquiry into the entire incident.
Kundu accepted that he had tried to contact the businessman at the behest of his acquaintances and attempted to summon the businessman to Shimla for a possible resolution of the civil dispute. The SC maintained the HC order to provide security to businessman N K Sharma, who was allegedly threatened and harassed by the police at the behest of the DGP.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra accepted the argument of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi that the HC had no jurisdiction to order shifting of the DGP and that the state government could not have posted Kundu as special secretary Ayush, a non-policing bureaucratic post.
The bench said, “Consequences of shifting an IPS officer from the DGP post are serious. Kundu was shifted to the post of principal secretary Ayush. Such an order could not have been passed by the HC without giving an opportunity to him to contest.”
Prior to appointment as DGP on June 1, 2020, Kundu was principal secretary to CM Jai Ram Thakur and held the charge of principal secretary (excise, taxation, and vigilance). He had served as a joint secretary in the Union water resources ministry where his responsibilities included policy, planning, river development and conflict management.
The CJI-led bench said the HC order directing Kundu’s shifting out from DGP post “suffered from patent error of jurisdiction and an order having serious consequences as the HC proceeded in violation of principle of natural justice by not giving an opportunity to Kundu to furnish his response” to a suo motu proceedings initiated based on the businessman’s letter petition alleging harassment by the DGP.
However, the bench primed the HC direction to the state government to constitute a Special Investigation Team comprising IG-level officers to probe all the FIRs lodged against the businessman and the DGP. The bench added that the IG level officers would not be amenable to any direction or supervision of the DGP while rejecting Kundu’s plea for CBI inquiry into the entire incident.
Kundu accepted that he had tried to contact the businessman at the behest of his acquaintances and attempted to summon the businessman to Shimla for a possible resolution of the civil dispute. The SC maintained the HC order to provide security to businessman N K Sharma, who was allegedly threatened and harassed by the police at the behest of the DGP.
