Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): The Supreme Court revoked the suspension of senior IPS officer and former ADG of Police (Intelligence) AB Venkateswara Rao. It dismissed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Andhra Pradesh government and clarified that it would not interfere with the High Court’s orders. The apex court said that the suspension could be for a maximum of two years and since the two-year period is over, the suspension could no longer be in place.
In February 2020, the State government had suspended Venkateswara Rao for his alleged misconduct and irregularities in the purchase of security equipment from an Israeli company. The government said in a statement that Rao had handed over details of the police security protocol system to a foreign surveillance company that could pose a threat to national and state security.
In the wake of SC orders to revoke the suspension and induct him back into service, AB Venkateswara Rao responded that he had always proceeded legally. He added that he used legal recourse to fight the suspension while the government spent a huge amount of money to win the case. “I was suspended based on a false report. The High Court quashed the suspension. The Supreme Court on Saturday confirmed the same. But, it took more than two years. Why has this happened? Why did the State government lose the case today? Was this done to please someone?” asked Rao.
He spoke to the media on the court premises after the suspension was revoked. “I was suspended at midnight on February 8, 2020, and at the same time, CM’s CPRO Pudi Srihari began a vicious campaign against me. It was widely publicised on Sakshi TV for two days. Many people were made to believe this false propaganda. So, I have issued a press release that I will take legal recourse. When I went to CAT questioning the suspension, the State government hired senior lawyer Prakash Reddy and paid him a fee of Rs 20 lakh. The AG represented the government in the High Court and I do not know how much he was paid. A team of lawyers was appointed for the SC hearing. Crores of rupees must have been spent. I demand that the government pay me for the legal expenses at par with the money it spent on fighting the case”, added Rao.
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“Based on a false report written by an ADG (CID), which was based on a forgery memo given by a DGP, the then Chief Secretaries blindly signed and issued suspension orders within 24 hours. Based on the false reports, the suspension was extended for six months and a review committee of three senior officials recommended that the suspension be extended. I reported with evidence to the government the conduct of the officers, who misled the government. I do not know if they took any action. Everyone from the DSP to the Chief Secretary wrote baseless reports. They repeated the same in reports to the Central government and in the court affidavits. Does anyone read those reports? Why did nobody question? Is there any professionalism? Why is the government wasting tax money on fighting baseless cases? They would know the value of labour if they plough and water the farm or do menial works from dawn to dusk. Is it not wrong for those officials to spend tax money on such trivial and false cases? Is this why we have become IAS and IPS officers? I urge the government to punish the officials and miscreants who misled the government and made illegal, unreasonable and arbitrary decisions and to recover the damage I incurred”, said Rao.
He warned that he would not let off anyone until he acted against those who made falsified the reports. Asked if he thinks politicians had a hand in the case, he asserted that he wanted to take action against all the culprits. He said he would take legal recourse against the criminal case filed against him. Rao said that he would report to the office as per SC’s order.
