HC orders UPSC to complete Telangana DGP Shivadhar Reddy's appointment in 4 weeks

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has directed the Union Public Service Commission to complete the entire process of appointing the Director General of Police (Head of Police Force) for Telangana within four weeks and report compliance.

It also dismissed an interim application seeking suspension of the government order appointing B Shivadhar Reddy, IPS, to the post.

Instructions to UPSC

On Friday, Justice Pulla Karthik of the High Court Single Bench issued comprehensive directions to the Secretary of the UPSC in New Delhi to complete the appointment process as per the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in its judgment in Prakash Singh versus Union of India dated July 3, 2018.

The court specifically instructed the UPSC to comply with the process already initiated by the Chief Secretary of the Telangana Government in earlier proceedings without reference to the letter addressed by the UPSC.

In the interim orders, Justice Pulla Karthik stated that the UPSC shall commence the entire exercise, which shall be completed as expeditiously as possible within a period of four weeks and report compliance to the court.

What is the petition about?

The court dismissed Interim Application No. 5 of 2025 filed by petitioner T Dhanagopal Rao, who had sought suspension of GO 1339 through which Shivadhar Reddy was appointed as the DGP (Head of Police Force).

The judge observed that this matter requires a hearing at length and the court was not inclined to pass any orders on the interim application at this stage, leading to its dismissal.

Following the order, the petitioner, T Dhanagopal Rao, pleaded before the judge to keep Interim Application No. 5 pending, arguing that the appointment of Shivadhar Reddy, IPS, is temporary in nature, which he claimed is contrary to the Supreme Court judgment cited in the case.

However, the judge declined his plea and adjourned the writ petition to February 5 for submission of a compliance report by the UPSC.

During the previous hearing, Advocate General of Telangana A. Sudershan Reddy had informed the court that the proposal for appointment of the DGP (Head of Police Force) was sent to the UPSC in April 2025. Since then, the UPSC has been seeking clarifications, which resulted in the delay in finalising the appointment.

The judge was hearing a Writ Petition filed by Dhanagopal Rao, a public interest social activist, challenging the appointment of B Shivadhar Reddy, IPS, as DGP (Head of Police Force).

The petitioner, appearing as party-in-person, contends that the Telangana Government has not adhered to the Supreme Court judgment in Prakash Singh versus Union of India while appointing Shivadhar Reddy as the DGP. He has sought the quashing of the government order through which Shivadhar Reddy was appointed to the post.

The matter has been adjourned to February 5 for further hearing and consideration of the UPSC compliance report.