HC stays departmental inquiry against Amitabha Thakur

The Allahabad High Court today stayed the departmental inquiry against suspended IPS officer Amitabh Thakur till documents demanded by him in connection with the probe are provided to him by the state government.
A division bench here of justice Satyendra Singh Chauhan and justice Anant Kumar gave this order on a writ petition filed by Thakur challenging the departmental inquiry started against him after his suspension last year and seeking directions to provide 67 documents related to it.
The petitioner alleged that these documents were not provided to him by the state government which in his opinion were necessary to defend himself during the course of inquiry proceeding against him.

On behalf of the state government, chief standing counsel stated that those documents were not relevant.
"Till the documents are supplied, inquiry against the petitioner (Amitabh Thakur ) will not proceed", the court ordered.
" ...Opposite parties are obliged to supply the documents within four weeks and if some documents are voluminous, then it will be open for the state government to permit the petitioner to inspect the same", the court further ordered.

It granted four weeks time to the state counsel for filing a counter affidavit and directed that the matter be listed after four weeks.
The petitioner said that on September 1 last year, he had requested the Principal Secretary (Home) that he has not been provided the necessary documents to defend himself properly in the departmental inquiry against him on charges of misconduct, taking part in dharnas and filing PILs.

Previously, the Central Administrative Tribunal had rejected his petition in this regard, after which he moved the High Court.