HC admits colleagues petition against DGP

HYDERABAD: The AP High Court on Wedenesday admitted a writ petition filed by senior IPS officer Umesh Kumar against director-general of police V Dinesh Reddy on three different counts including seeking transfer of the forgery case involving former journalist T Sunil Reddy from CID to CBI. While admitting the petition, the court directed Umesh Kumar’s counsel to issue notices to Dinesh Reddy and CBI director AP Singh. The matter will come up for hearing after three weeks.The writ petition filed by Umesh Kumar’s counsel Sripada Prabhakar seeks three actions: (1) that DGP V Dinesh Reddy furnish a full and complete statement of all movable and immovable properties acquired or sold by him or members of his family and that he allegedly made a false declaration of his properties; (2) transfer of the case against Sunil Reddy to either the CBI or have the probe conducted under the supervision of a senior officer other than Dinesh Reddy; and (3) an enquiry into petitions filed various persons against Dinesh Reddy from time to time.Umesh Kumar’s counsel argued that Dinesh Reddy had a started a smear campaign with malafide intentions against his client, and submitted enclosures running into 300 pages. attached, directed the counsel to issue notices to Dinesh Reddy and the CBI director.The notices served on Dinesh Reddy and the CBI director state that if they failed to appoint their counsels the case would be heard ex parte.No lawyer represented Dinesh Reddy during the hearing on Wednesday.The tussle between Dinesh Reddy and Umesh Kumar, his senior in the 1977 batch of IPS, started with the arrest of Sunil Reddy, who is alleged to have forged the signature of an MP to malign the image of Dinesh Reddy. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) which probed the matter, alleged that Sunil Reddy had obtained details of properties acquired by Dinesh Reddy’s wife at the behest of Umesh Kumar.Umesh Kumar was later transferred from the post of director-general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and posted as chairman of the Godavari Valley Development Authority.