Supreme Court stays Karnataka High Court's non-bailable warrants against DGP, IGP

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (February 20) stayed the Karnataka High Court's non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against the state Director General of Police (DGP) and Inspector General of Police (IGP) for not showing up to give explanation in a transfer case of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who claimed that he had been transferred 30 times in 24 years.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde stayed the non-bailable warrants while hearing the Karnataka government plea. 

Earlier today, the apex court had agreed to hear the matter today itself after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before it. Tushar Mehta had pointed that Home Secretary has been asked by the High Court to execute the non-bailable warrants, and said that this order is "unusual". 

Karnataka High Court had earlier issued non-bailable warrants against the top cops on February 18. The High Court had sought an explanation from DGP Praveen Sood on the plea of DSP SS Kashi, issued a non-bailable warrant against the DGP after he failed to appear in the court.

The state government petition said, "It is submitted that the impugned order failed to even consider the fact that the petitioner (Sood) has just taken charge of the post of Director General and Inspector General of Police, the State of Karnataka only in the month of February and as such the petitioner cannot be even remotely be held liable for any transfers of the writ petitioner over the period of the last 24 years."

The High Court passed the order on the petition of DSP Kashi, who had challenged the December 16, 2019 order passed by Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, rejecting his application as it held that the employee concerned had no vested right or interest to be posted on a particular place/post.

Kashi moved the High Court against this order on February 11, which directed the state to file the DGP`s response on or before February 14. When the matter came up for hearing on February 18, the seniormost police official was not present in the court.

(With Agency Inputs)