The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Dinesh Reddy's writ plea on protocol issue dismissed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Dinesh Reddy's writ plea on protocol issue dismissed

Legal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The writ petition filed by former Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, on behalf of the State IPS Officers' Association regarding protocol dispute was dismissed by the High Court, calling it "petty dispute of so called official protocol."

Justice V.V.S. Rao, in his elaborate judgment, said that "warrant of precedence or order of precedence does not confer any right on anybody or alter legal status of a public servant."

It was further made clear that this protocol neither conferred nor took away any rights.

It may be recalled that the Government issued a G.O. placing Principal Secretary (General Administration) above the cadre of Additional Director-General of Police.

Dinesh Reddy, representing the association, filed the writ petition challenging the G.O.

The moot question

Mr. Justice Rao said: "The petitioner association has made this court a platform for highlighting grudge against another coveted service, i.e., IAS."

After going through the affidavit of 24 pages and hearing the arguments and going through various office orders in this regard, the Judge further said that "there is lurking suspicion in the mind of this court whether the petitioner (association) is really aggrieved."

While declaring the writ petition as not maintainable, the Judge did not appreciate the action of the police officer in naming the Chief Secretary as party respondent.

The Judge reminded that these were executive orders and officers need not be made parties. Just prior to the delivery of the judgment on Tuesday, the counsel for the petitioners reminded the court that a letter seeking permission to withdraw the case had already been filed in the registry and he wanted that the writ petition be declared withdrawn.

The Judge, however, went ahead and delivered the already prepared judgment.

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