File Photo: Suspended IPS officer Amitabh Thakur
Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today issued notice to the Central and state governments on the petition moved by suspended IPS officer Amitabh Thakur challenging the appointment of Chairman, Police Recruitment and Promotion Board VK Gupta as the enquiry officer against him.
Mr Thakur's RTI activist wife Nutan Thakur said CAT issued notice to the Central and state governments asking them to file their detailed counter affidavit within three weeks.
It also issued notice to Mr Gupta to present facts.
The next hearing will be held on September 2.
The UP government had suspended Amitabh Thakur on July 13 and appointed the enquiry officer the next day.
Mr Thakur had challenged the order saying as per Rule 8(6) of the All India Services Discipline and Appeal Rules, an enquiry officer can be appointed only after getting a reply from the officer under Rule 8(5).
In his case the charge sheet was issued on July 13 and received by him on July 15 but even before Mr Thakur submitted his reply on July 16, the state government appointed the enquiry officer "in utter violation" of the Rules.
The Uttar Pradesh government suspended Mr Thakur on July 13 within hours of approaching the Union Home Ministry seeking a CBI probe into the rape case slapped against him.
Mr Thakur, who is ever since locked in a tussle with the state government, was served a 200-page charge sheet and a vigilance inquiry was initiated against him.
Mr Thakur had stirred a political storm by releasing the text and audio of the conversation purportedly carrying Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's voice.