AP High Court stays appointment of Justice Kanagraj as chairman of Police Complaint Authority

The High Court has stayed the orders issued by the Andhra Pradesh government on the appointment of Justice V Kanagaraj as the Chairman of the Police Complaint Authority. The High Court on Thursday issued orders suspending the Go for six weeks. Lawyer Kishore challenged the appointment of Justice Kanagaraj as the Chairman of the Police Compliance Authority. The court heard the petition and suspended GO for six weeks.

It is said that the appointment was made in violation of Rule 4 (a) of the AP Police Complaints Authority. The lawyer for the petitioner told the court that the government had appointed Justice Kanagaraj in violation of the rules laid down by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case. Taking these into consideration, the court halted the GO over the appointment of Justice Kanagaraj.

The Police Complaints Authority will investigate complaints against additional SPs and higher-level police officers. It was set up to investigate complaints of serious misconduct, death in police custody, assault and rape. The AP government has appointed Justice V Kanagaraj as chairman of the Police Complaints Authority, with retired IPS officer KVV Gopal Rao, retired IAS officer B Kishore and Udayalakshmi as members.