More than a week after the Supreme Court ordered the Kerala state government to reinstate former Director General of Police (DGP) TP Senkumar to his post, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan finally reappointed him on Friday.
The official appointment order though will be issued by the Public Administration Department on Saturday.
The swift action comes on the same day the apex court slammed the LDF Kerala government for asking for a modification in its order dated April 24. The court also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the state and slammed the government for delaying Senkumar's appointment.
The Supreme Court, had on April 24, ordered the state government to reinstate Senkumar, who was shown the door in May last year, soon after the Pinarayi government assumed office. TP Senkumar assumed office on May 22, 2015 and his tenure should have continued till May 21, 2017 or even thereafter till his retirement in June 2017, as per the Kerala Police Act. However, his tenure was cut short.
While the state government had claimed dereliction of duty on the part of Senkumar, the SC had found that the senior official was removed "without reasonable cause."
Senkumar moved a contempt case against the state government on April 29, after the government failed to immediately comply with the SC order.
Senkumar even termed the delay in issuing orders on Chief Secretary Nalini Netto’s part as ‘willful and deliberate disobedience.'