The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday dismissed the writ petition challenging the appointment of A.V. Dharma Reddy as Executive Officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
P. Naveen Kumar Reddy, a resident of Tirupati, had filed a writ of quo warranto stating that Mr. Dharma Reddy belonged to the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) and that the post held by him was not equivalent to the post of District Collector.
A Bench headed by Justice B. Krishna Mohan not only deliberated on the law relating to the issuance of the writ of quo warranto but also examined Section 107 of the A.P. Charitable and Religious Endowments Act of 1987, which dealt with the qualifications required for the appointment to the post, and dismissed the writ accepting the contention of senior counsel S.S. Prasad that the posts held by Mr. Dharma Reddy in the Central and State governments were higher than the ranks of the District Collector.
The Bench also took cognisance of the fact that Mr. Dharma Reddy was an officer of the rank of Joint Secretary in the IDES, which was equivalent to the rank of Secretary in the State services considered higher than that of the District Collector.
