The suspended Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) M.R. Ajith Kumar complained that he was suspended from service with the malafide intention of excluding him from being considered for the upcoming post of the Director General of Police (DGP).

In his petition filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Mr. Ajith Kumar contended that he was suspended from service seven days prior to him being considered for the promotion to negate his legitimate right to get promoted as the DGP. The suspension order issued by the Chief Secretary was without any jurisdiction, he argued.

The CAT, which refused to grant a stay on the suspension order, posted the case for August 20, 2026.

The Chief Secretary had suspended him based on a report that he had deliberately interfered with the investigation and forced a referral report regarding the police case booked in connection with the alleged act of the members of the Permanent Escort and Security Team of the then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who got out from the escort vehicles with lathis and assaulted the Youth Congress workers who protested while a bus carrying Mr. Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues was passing through during the Nava Kerala Sadas Yatra on December 15, 2023.

Mr. Ajith Kumar, who was represented by Girija Gopal, argued that the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was relied on by the government to suspend him, appeared to be a conscious and deliberate attempt to fix responsibility on him and to make it appear that he had deliberately changed the conclusions and filed a refer report in the case.

The official had specifically denied any involvement on his part in the alleged act of filing the refer report.

He further argued that the attempt of the SIT to impute on the applicant the responsibility for filing the closure report in the case was totally ill-motivated and beyond the scope of investigation of the team.

The suspension based on the letter by the State Police Chief stating that the explanation given was not fully satisfactory cannot be legally sustained, he argued.

The senior police officer pointed out that he was due to retire in 2028 and any delay or denial of promotion as DGP on the purported grounds of the suspension order, which was issued in the nick of time when he was due to be promoted, would cause him inexplicable injury.

Published - July 28, 2026 10:13 pm IST