Kerala’s former Director General of Police TP Senkumar has approached the Supreme Court against the state government removing him from the post last year.
In a Special Leave Petition filed before the apex court, Senkumar appealed against a Kerala High Court order that found the state government’s decision to be justified. With this, the officer's fight against the government in the past ten months Has escalated further.
In his petition, Senkumar alleged that this removal as the DGP and subsequent posting as managing director of Kerala Police Housing and Construction Corporation was illegal and an act of vengeance on the part of the state government. Senkumar was replaced by Loknath Behera, only days after the CPI (M)-led LDF government assumed power.
According to him, his uncompromising stance against several CPI (M) leaders allegedly involved in the murder of TP Chandrasekharan had earned him the wrath of the newly elected government in May last year, which in turn ruined his career.
The Times of India reports that the petition alleges that the government had taken action against Senkumar based on a `false report' given by the home secretary on investigation of the Jisha murder case and the Puttingal fire tragedy .
The report had found Senkumar at fault, for not taking action against those involved in the fire tragedy and judged his investigation on Jisha case as insensitive. In his petition, Senkumar also pointed out that political murders in the state had increased ever since his removal.
LiveLaw reports:
"In the petition, Senkumar submitted that the post of the ‘state police chief’ is having fixity of minimum tenure of ‘two years’ as per Section 97(1) of the Kerala Police Act, 2011, and in the light of the ruling rendered by the apex court in Prakash."