Court reserves order on Delhi top cop's appointment

The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the appointment of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar on the grounds of alleged abuse of power and rights violation.

A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath fixed May 31 for pronouncement of judgment.

Petitioner M.S. Devasayam, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer from Chennai, had sought the quashing of the appointment of Neeraj Kumar as police chief.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Rajeeve Mehra, appearing for the home ministry, told the bench that the petitioner's representation was rejected.

The court Feb 27 asked the former IAS officer to make a representation before the home ministry and directed the ministry to decide on it.

The ASG, submitting the order of the ministry passed on the petitioner's representation, said the allegations against the commissioner had not been substantiated.

"There has been no lawlessness in the tenure of Neeraj Kumar. In fact, the comparative figures of crimes under major heads like dacoity, murder and kidnapping during his tenure in Delhi are lower than the corresponding period of last year," the ministry said.

"The police officer is facing serious allegations of misuse and abuse of power, fabrication of documents and violation of human rights," the petitioner said.

Neeraj Kumar, a 1976-batch Indian Police Service officer, was appointed as police commissioner of the city in June 2012.