The High Court of Karnataka on Friday dismissed the petition of Director-General of Police Susant Mahapatra against the appointment of Om Prakash as the Head of the State Police Force (HoSPF).
A Division Bench comprising Justice Jayant M. Patel and Justice B. Sreenivase Gowda passed the order after perusing records and finding that there was no “bias” against him in the selection process as the Chief Secretary, who had made certain “wrong” remarks in Mr. Mahapatra’s performance appraisal report, had recused himself from the selection process.
‘No merit’
Also, the Bench did not find merit in Mr. Mahapatra’s contention that the government neither consulted the Union Public Service Commission nor did UPSC empanel the senior-most IPS officers for selection to the post of the HoSPF.
Instead, the Bench found that the State had enacted a separate procedure for selection of the HoSPF by amending the Karnataka Police Act in 2012 and there was no sufficient ground in the petition to challenge the legality of the amendment.
However, the Bench permitted Mr. Mahapatra, who is the senior-most IPS officer in the State, to approach the authorities concerned on his claim for higher pay and retirement benefits.
Mr. Mahapatra had approached the High Court after the Central Administrative Tribunal on March 3 rejected his plea against the February 2015 decision of the government to appoint Mr. Om Prakash to the post of the HoSPF.
