Mr. AB Venkateswara Rao (1989 batch IPS officer), the former chief of AP Intelligence, met the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. KS Jawahar Reddy (1990 batch IAS officer), on 30 May seeking a posting in the state police service after the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (Hyderabad branch) order and mandated that Venkateswara Rao be reinstated (with all pay and allowances) into the state police force.
On May 30, a division bench of the Andhra HC comprising Justices Satti Subba Reddy and Venkata Jyothirmayi Pratapa gave a cold shoulder to an appeal filed by the State against the CAT order, allowing Mr. Venkateswara Rao to seek a posting just a day before his superannuation on May 31.
In cognisance of Mr. Venkateswara Rao’s retirement on May 31 (Friday), the court observed that an interim order to suspend the CAT ruling might cause him greater hardship than the petitioner (state). However, they clarified that Mr. Venkateswara Rao’s reinstatement would not make him immune from the state’s actions against him.
The Andhra government had suspended Mr. Rao in February 2020, by Rule 3(1) of the All India Service (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969 and for a second time later as part of disciplinary proceedings initiated against him over alleged irregularities in the procurement of an aerostat and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for anti-extremist and security operations, when he was Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence).
