HP DGP moves SC against HP high court directives of reassigning him from post
Shimla, Dec 30,
Challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s directives to shift him from his post, Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu has moved the Supreme Court seeking relief from the December 26 High Court directive.
Also read: FIRs & allegations, as HP DGP and businessman engage in a high profile feud
The DGP filed a special leave petition before the apex court on December 29 against the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s order. The Special leave petition was filed by Kundu after the division bench of Chief Justice MS Ramachandran Rao and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua had directed the State government and the home secretary to reassign the state DGP and Superintendent of Police Kangra, Shalini Agnihotri, to another post before January 4, 2024.
Currently, the Supreme Court is on Christmas and New Year vacations, and the matter is likely to be placed before the court between January 1 to 4, as the DGP has impleaded the Registrar General of HP High Court and other parties in the case.
The state government was expected to take action on the High Court order before January 4, as per the court’s directive. In the matter, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu in a statement on December 29, has said that the State government would take action after going through the detailed order of the High court bench.
Earlier in the High court, the advocate representing the businessman and amicus curiae, Neeraj Gupta, had expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the investigation in an FIR, stating that a fair probe could not be expected from the state police with the DGP remaining in his post.
A complaint from businessman Nishant Kumar Sharma, a resident of Palampur, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, was received via email by the Registrar General of the Court on October 28, 2023, addressing the Chief Justice. The court directed the registry to register the case.
Also read:HP HC takes cognizance on the complaint by Palampur businessman alleging ‘threat to life’
In its order on December 26, the High Court stated that it was satisfied that exceptional circumstances existed for intervening in the matter, especially when the state government had chosen to ignore relevant material. The High Court also instructed the state to promptly relocate the Director General of Police, HP, and the SP Kangra from their posts to ensure they would not have any opportunity to influence the investigations in the FIRs referred to in the order.
As of December 30, the Himachal Pradesh Government had not taken any action on the High Court’s order, but it is expected to act soon.
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