New Delhi: Questioning the manner in which T.P. Senkumar was shunted out as state police chief, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Kerala government whether the incumbent Lokanath Behera has been “removed”. A bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta posed this question to Kerala counsel G. Prakash during the hearing of the petition filed by Mr. Senkumar challenging his transfer soon after the LDF government assumed office. Earlier the bench refused to adjourn the hearing on a request from Mr. Prakash that the counter affidavit which is ready will be filed tomorrow as it has already been settled by senior counsel Harish Salve and has to be signed by the Chief Secretary.
Justice Lokur asked the question in connection with the case of alleged suicide of engineering student Jishnu Pranoy, who was found hanging in his college hostel in January. “For five days, the mother of the boy, Jishnu, was on a hunger strike,” said the judge. “We saw in the papers. So has he [Behera] not been removed?". Counsel said the issue had been resolved and there was nothing more to it. Justifying the transfer, counsel said the manner in which he dealt with the Kollam temple fire and Perumpavoor murder created serious dissatisfaction among the general public about the efficiency of the state police chief.
Earlier, senior counsel Dushyant Dave alleged that Mr Senkumar’s removal from the post by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan can only be related to his independent and thorough investigation into the political violence in the state. Counsel alleged that he was displaced immediately after declaration of the result in the general election to the assembly held in 2016 as a measure of political vendetta.
Counsel submitted that his removal was in violation of apex court judgment in Prakash Singh’s case which fixed a minimum tenure of two years for the state police chief. Any removal of them should be done by the state government in consultation with the State Security Commission under the Kerala Police Act of 2011 but such consultation was not done in this case. Mr. Prakash, however justified the transfer and said when the new government assumed office, there was anti-police sentiments due to the fire tragedy. He accused Mr. Senkumar of not acting on intelligence reports and then trying to cover up the probe. Arguments will continue on Tuesday.
