The case of AP Senior IPS Officer AB Venkateshwar Rao has been postponed to 29th of this month. Venkateswara Rao has approached
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has asked the AP State government advocate how senior IPS officer AB Venkateshwar Rao was suspended a second time on the same charges. CAT on Tuesday examined the case when Rao challenged the state government suspending him a second time.
The bench said that no note was on file. It questioned how four times the charge sheet could be justified. The bench commented that the record is not relevant to the argument of the Advocate General. It also asked why no attention was paid when AB Venkateswara Rao has given a clear reply on the issues of Pegasus software procurement and his comments in the media.
It said that suspending for the second time without review is illegal. The Central Administrative Tribunal, which questioned the second hearing on the same allegations, adjourned the next hearing to 29th of this month.
It may be recalled AB Venkateswara Rao served as the head of the State Intelligence Department in the previous TDP government. During the 2019 elections, the EC removed him from office after YCP filed complaints against him. And after YS Jagan came to power, the YCP government accused ABV of buying some equipment from Israel and tapping their phones and suspended him.
Then he joined the duties of ABV with the orders of the Supreme Court. But after he was suspended again for the second time. Then, AB Venkateswara Rao filed a petition in CAT challenging it. The bench examined the case file given by the state government during the hearing of the case last week.
After examining it, it questioned the government counsel as to where the material showing that the witnesses were threatened by AVB. Also, senior advocate Adinarayana Rao on behalf of ABV said that there are factual errors in the written arguments filed by the government.
He stressed that the suspension imposed on AVB is invalid and will not continue. Even after ABV was reinstated by the Supreme Court, suspending it for the second time on the same charges is against the rules, he said.
