The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday (14^th January) quashed the Mayawati government's order of appointing a committee to probe alleged irregularities in the recruitment of some 22,000 policemen in 2007 when her rival Mulayam Singh Yadav ruled Uttar Pradesh.

 

A division bench comprising Justice A.N. Verma and Justice S.N. Shukla declared the constitution of the four-member inquiry committee under additional director general of police Shailja Kant Misra as null and void.

 

The order came in a petition by four of the 34 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers suspended for alleged irregularities in what was termed as the biggest recruitment scam in the State. The petitioners had challenged the inclusion of Shailja Kant Misra in the four-member inquiry committee by state police chief Vikram Singh, who had been directed to do so by a Government order dated June 23, 2007, barely a month after Mayawati assumed office.

 

The petitioners argued that in his capacity as additional director general (establishment), Misra himself had been a part of the recruitment process, therefore he could not sit over judgment over the same exercise. Upholding their contention, the court ruled that the constitution of the committee was in violation of rules and also against the principles of natural justice.