The State Government on Thursday submitted before the Madras High Court the entire file related to an inquiry conducted by an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) against suspended special Director General of Police (DGP) Rajesh Das. The committee had found prima facie material to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him for allegedly making sexual advances towards a woman IPS officer.
Justice V. Parthiban had called for the files to look at the procedure adopted by the ICC before recommending disciplinary proceedings. Accordingly, Advocate-General R. Shunmugasundaram submitted three volumes of documents and said the question of allowing the suspended DGP to cross-examine witnesses did not arise, since no punishment had been imposed on him on the basis of the ICC inquiry report.
He said the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013, and the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules of 1969 permitted the ICC itself to conduct disciplinary proceedings. Therefore, the government had asked the ICC, headed by IAS officer Jayashree Raghunandan, to hold a disciplinary inquiry against the suspended DGP.
“The disciplinary inquiry is under way. The petitioner herein will be given an opportunity to inspect the relevant documents, in consonance with the guidelines issued by the Government of India,” the A-G said. The submissions were made during the hearing of a writ petition filed by the suspended DGP, challenging the ICC inquiry on various grounds, including bias and non-adherence to the principles of natural justice.
Denying the allegations, the A-G filed an affidavit, sworn on behalf of the Home Secretary, stating that the charges framed against the suspended DGP were served on him, along with a copy of the government letter asking the ICC to conduct the disciplinary inquiry. The ICC had been following due process, the affidavit stated.
The government also told the court that the writ petitioner was placed under suspension between August 20, 2002, and April 26, 2004, when he was serving as Superintendent of Police in Tiruvallur district. The charge against him then was that he prevented guardmen from presenting the guard of honour to the then Deputy Inspector General of Police, Chengalpattu Range. In 2006, he was let off with a warning.
It was also brought to the notice of the court that a few constables had approached the State Human Rights Commission, accusing the suspended DGP of having assaulted them. “Therefore, no exemption can be shown to the petitioner from facing the present inquiry,” the Home Secretary’s affidavit read.
