Court dismisses Andhra police chief's plea for extension

The Andhra Pradesh High Court Sunday dismissed a petition by state police chief V. Dinesh Reddy seeking orders to the state government to extend his term by one year. A division bench, which heard the motion moved by the director general of police (DGP), directed him to relinquish his post. Reddy is attaining the age of superannuation on Monday.

Dinesh Reddy had challenged the decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that declined to grant him interim relief to continue in the post till his plea seeking a term of one more year was disposed of by the Tribunal. The CAT, however, admitted the original petition and granted four weeks to the government to file a counter affidavit.

The government had last week conveyed to the CAT that it will not extend Dinesh Reddy's term. Challenging the government's decision, he had filed a petition in the CAT but it refused to grant him interim relief. Dinesh Reddy, a 1977 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was re-appointed DGP in September last year after the high court had quashed his appointment following a petition filed by fellow IPS officer P. Gautam Kumar.

It was in June 2011 that Dinesh Reddy was first appointed DGP, superseding five other IPS officers. The Supreme Court recently directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the assets of Dinesh Reddy following a petition filed by another IPS officer Umesh Kumar.