CAT quashes Sarans appointment as DGP

CHENNAI:  The TN Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has set aside an order dated November 27 last year of the then Chief Secretary appointing Letika Saran as the Director General of Police of TN.The Bench comprising K Elango, Judicial Member, and R Satapathy, Administrative Member, quashed the appointment order while disposing of an application from R Nataraj, former Director General of Police/Director of Fire and Rescue Services, on May 31 last.Besides seeking to quash Saran’s appointment, Nataraj, who retired from service, prayed for a direction to the Chief Secretary to appoint him as the head of the State police force in view of his rank No 1 assigned by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the panel approved on November 10,  last year, within a time frame to be fixed by the tribunal.The Bench also directed the government to consider the claim of Nataraj for appointment as DGP with effect from November 27 last  in view of the fact that he was the senior most person and ranked as No 1 in the panel drawn by the UPSC. This consideration should be strictly in terms of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh’s case reported in 2006, the bench said.The Bench also held that all the persons who were included in the panel were entitled to be considered for the appointment. “We are also of the opinion that while considering the claims of such persons, their seniority and ranking have to be considered”, the Bench said and added that, “we are in agreement with the contention of counsel for Nataraj that the DGP post is a tenure post for a period of two years irrespective of the fact of superannuation.”