K KATHIRESAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Even before the commencement of selection process for appointment to the post of Head of the Police Force in the State of Tamil Nadu, a Writ Petition was filed by a Lawyer by profession for initiating an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation regarding the alleged connivance of Senior Police Officers, as raised by the Commissioner of Police, Chennai, in his Office memo dtd. 22/12/2016 in respect of the sale of banned substances viz., Gutkha and Pan Masala in the State of Tamil Nadu, with a view to stall the appointment of a probable candidate as Director General of Police. The Writ Petition filed by the Lawyer under the banner of Public Interest Litigation was dismissed by a Division Bench presided over by MR.JUSTICE SANJAY KISHAN KAUL [as His Lordship then was], by raising a doubt about the bona fides of the petitioner in filing the Writ Petition and with an observation that it would not be proper for advocates to lend their names as litigants and lending their shoulder to fire the gun, something which is condemnable. Now, it is the turn of a Trade Union Leader challenging the appointment of the fifth respondent as Director General of Police under the brand name "Pro Bono Publico" on the very same grounds raised in the Writ Petition filed by the Lawyer in W.P.No.1846 of 2017, which was dismissed by the First Bench, by order dtd. 27/1/2017, the only difference being that the earlier Writ Petition was filed before the Principal Bench at Madras and the present one is before the Bench at Madurai. THE ORDER UNDER CHALLENGE:

(2.) The challenge in this Writ Petition is to the Government Order in G.O.(2D)No.184, Home (SC) Department, dtd. 30/6/2017, appointing the fifth respondent as the Director General of Police in the State of Tamil Nadu. BACKGROUND OF THE PETITIONER:

(3.) The petitioner is stated to be a full time Trade Union Leader and a public spirited person, involved in multifarious social activities. The petitioner is functioning at present as the Madurai Urban District Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress Construction Workers Wing. THE CASE OF THE PETITIONER: