Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Tuesday directed the state govt to file a detailed counter in response to a public interest litigation seeking to fill vacancies in the police department.The bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, while taking note of the govt’s submission that a notification for filling around 7,437 posts was being issued, directed a detailed counter explaining the vacant positions and the steps taken to address them, and adjourned the matter by a week.The PIL was filed by Keethineedi Akhil Sri Guru Teja, Help The People Charitable Trust.During the hearing, special govt pleader Rahul Reddy informed the bench that the govt had approved filling of 7,437 posts in the department on July 5 and a notification to that effect would be issued soon. He also sought time to file a counter mentioning these details before the bench.Taking objection, the petitioner’s counsel said that while there are around 30,000 vacancies in the department, the notification covers only 25% of sanctioned posts, which, according to him, violated the principles of natural justice, Articles 14, 21 and 41 of the Constitution, as well as Supreme Court guidelines with regard to filling vacancies in the police department.He further sought a clear direction, in view of the Supreme Court guidelines, to immediately fill all sanctioned vacancies in various ranks in the police department.In response, the bench noted that the notification being issued was a result of the court taking up the PIL. “Let them (govt) do whatever they are doing and see how they progress with it,” said the bench, observing that it could decide further in the matter after a counter is filed.
