SC to Maya: Take back 18,000 cops

Directs UP To Appoint All Recruited Constables Till Final Outcome Of Appeal

The Mayawati government, which had quashed the recruitment of 18,000 constables made during rival Mulayam Singh Yadav’s regime alleging a scam, was on Monday ordered by the Supreme Court to take them back in service.

The UP government had tried everything — moving the high court and then the Supreme Court — to stall the appointment of the large number of constables. It had rushed to the apex court against the May 20 order of Allahabad HC threatening to draw contempt proceedings against a top bureaucrat and the DGP of the state if they failed to appoint the constables by May 27.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma rejected outright advocate general Jyotindra Mishra’s plea for stay on the contempt proceedings and directed the state to immediately appoint the recruited constables.

“The state has no case for stay,” the Bench said. “Is it the case of the state that these constables are surplus? You need them. The state had sufficient time to take steps as per the HC order,” it said while brushing aside Mishra’s argument that in many cases the answer sheets of the candidates were found to have been written by the examiners.

While directing the state to appoint all the recruited constables, whose fate had been hanging in the balance for the last two years, the Bench said their appointment would be subject to the final outcome of the appeal filed by the Mayawati government in the Supreme Court.

The HC had quashed the Mayawati government’s decision to cancel the appointment of the 18,000 constables recruited during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s regime. The Mayawati government had alleged that there were widespread irregularities in the appointments. The high court had said that the state should separate the tainted candidates and only their appointment should be cancelled. When no step towards implementation of the HC order was taken, some candidates moved the HC seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the principal secretary (home) and directorgeneral of police (DGP). The high court had issued notice to the alleged contemnors on their petition.

The high court had deadlined the Mayawati government to comply with its order by May 27 and warned that failure to do so would invite framing of contempt charges against the alleged contemnors.
Source:- The Times of India 26 May 2009 P.13 Delhi
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