HC stays GO on accelerated promotion to police officials

Chennai, Mar 7 (UNI) The Madras High Court today stayed a Government Order (GO) issued by Home Secretary, granting accelerated promotion to Additional Superintendents as Superintendents for exemplary courage and valour in apprehending forest brigand Veerappan.

Justice N Paul Vasantha Kumar admitted a batch of writ petitions and granted an interim stay on the operation of the GO.

Additional Superintendent of Police R Thirunavukarasu, M Sundararajan, C P Chitrarasu and 19 other officers in their petitions submitted that all of them had joined duty as Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Special Task Force (STF) constituted for apprehending Veerapan.

Due to their joint effort, Veerappan was segregated from the hill-tribes on whose support he had survived for a long time in the forest.

Finally, Veerappan and three of his associates were killed in an encounter in 2004.

The petitioners further submitted that by considering the sterling achievement, the government issued a GO wide Ms No 1252 on October 29, 2004, awarding accelerated promotion to those who rendered their service for the elimination of Veerappan, and this one-stage promotion was given to all the 748 Special Task Force personnel involved.

The petitoners submitted that the state government issued a GO on October 3, 2007, stating that giving consequential seniority to the accelerated promotions may lead to a situation of reduction in rank of their seniors in the lower category for no fault of those, who had not been given accelerated promotion.

The petitioners prayed at the court to quash the present GO Ms No1396 of the Home Department dated October 3, 2007, and direct the State Government to give them regular promotion.

UNI XR VV PY HS2102