SC puts stay on Himachal Pradesh HC order shifting DGP Sanjay Kundu
Jan 03, 2024
New Delhi [India], January 3 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Himachal Pradesh High Court order to shift Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu to another post.
A bench of the Chief Justice of India and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also ordered that Kundu's posting as Ayush Principal Secretary shall not be given effect to for now.
The direction of the apex court came while noting that the officer was not heard before the adverse directive was issued against him.
The apex court further asked the High Court to decide Kundu's application for recall of the December 26 order within two weeks.
The bench, in its order, stated, "Till a decision is made on the petitioner's recall application, the High Court order on transfer shall remain stayed. Since the petitioner's new posting is pursuant to the impugned order of the High Court, no steps shall be taken."
Kundu approached the top court, challenging the High Court's order to shift him to another post to ensure that he doesn't influence the probe into the alleged harassment of Palampur businessman Nishant Sharma.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Kundu, told the top court bench that Kundu was set to retire in less than four months and an adverse order of the present nature would blemish his 35-year-long career when his client was at no fault.
Rohatgi said the police officer was not heard by the High Court, which, before passing the order on December 26, directed the state government to shift him.
Sanjay Kundu was on Tuesday removed from the post of Himachal DGP and posted as Principal Secretary, Ayush Department.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court had on December 26 ordered the state government to shift the DGP and Kangra Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri to other posts before January 4, 2024, to ensure that "they didn't have an opportunity to influence the investigation.".
In an email, the businessman made a complaint to the High Court, alleging that he and his family feared for their lives as he was attacked in Gurugram and McLeodganj.
He had sought the High Court's intervention on the grounds that he needed protection from powerful people as he was living in constant fear of being killed.
While passing the order, the High Court, however, made it clear that it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the claims of the parties as the investigation was still incomplete.
