In a big setback to senior IPS officer and former intelligence chief of Andhra Pradesh A B Venkateshwar Rao, the Central government on Tuesday gave a freehand to the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government to take departmental action against him in connection with the alleged violation of rules in procuring security systems from Israel during his regime.
At the same time, the Andhra Pradesh high court, too, dismissed his petition seeking contempt of court against the government for not restoring his job following the court order.
The high court said Venkateshwar Rao did not produce any evidence against the government to prove his allegations.
According to reports, the Union home ministry had written letter to chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy permitting him to take disciplinary action against ABV.
The Centre, however, did not give permission for his outright sacking from the job, but suggested that the government could stop his further increments till his retirement.
The Union ministry asked the chief secretary to consult the Department of Personnel and Training for further course of action. The Union Public Service Commission also recommended the stoppage of ABV’s increments.
Sources close to ABV, however, said he would approach the court or the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) challenging the Centre’s decision to stop his increments.
“In any case, he may not get further increments because he is nearing retirement age. So, financially, it would not affect him much,” sources said.