PIL challenges IAS Venkatrama Reddy's resignation

Hyderabad: A public interest litigation was filed in High Court on Thursday challenging the State government accepting the resignation (Voluntary Retirement) of IAS officer P Venkatrama Reddy and issuance of nomination papers for the MLC polls on the same day, which the petitioners called it arbitrary, illegal and against the rules.

The petitioners, J Shankar from Karimnagar and R Subender Singh, a research scholar from Sangareddy, further alleged that it erodes the confidence of people in the Parliamentary system. They contended that the members of IAS are governed by All India Services Rules, 1958, which governs the resignation from services of IAS, IPS and IFS.

Moreover, the State government has to forward the application of resignation through the Central government by enclosing No Dues Certificate and the vigilance status along with its recommendation. The resignation is considered only after the recommendation of the concerned cadre-controlling authority was received. The petitioners alleged that no resignation paper of P Venkatrama Reddy (seventh respondent) was available on the website of the State government.

The democratic and constitutional spirit will be lost if Venkatrama Reddy was allowed to participate in elections to the office of Member of Legislative Council for the State of Telangana, they said. The petitioner's counsel urged the court to hear the matter on an urgent basis. However, the bench refused to hear the plea on Thursday. The matter may come before the bench within a day or two.