The Madras high court has upheld the appointment of Letika Saran as DGP by the previous DMK regime and held that a state government has the right to choose a DGP from among the three names shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
A division bench of Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M. Venugopal held that there was no illegality in the appointment and allowed the petition filed by Letika Saran, while setting aside aside the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) quashing her appointment as DGP.
“As it is our firm finding that the state government is empowered to have its own officer to such a highly sensitive post as the merits and demerits of such an appointed person will have direct consequences and implications on the government and its performance, we cannot appreciate the contra arguments advanced on the part of R. Nataraj (retired),” said the bench.
Nataraj, who was senior to Saran, had challenged her appointment on the ground that the state government had failed to follow the Supreme Court guidelines to appoint a DGP.
When his petition was dismissed, he approached the Madras high court, which directed the government to forward the list of all DGP-cadre officers to the UPSC, which would shortlist three names and send it to the state government and a name from the list could be selected for appointment.
The state government forwarded the list and the UPSC short listed Nataraj, Saran and K. Vijayakumar. Saran was appointed again on November 27, 2010. Nataraj challenged her appointment again and the tribunal quashed her appointment.
