AP DGP Gautam Sawang could not appear before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh for various reasons today. In his place, the Home Secretary and the IG concerned appeared before the court. They said that the DGP could not attend because of the meeting with the State Election Commission on the panchayat polls.
However, the High Court did not express satisfaction at this. It postponed the hearing, saying that the case would be taken up only when the DGP would appear. It was a contempt of court case. A police officer named Rama Rao filed the contempt petition saying that the DGP did not implement the court’s orders with respect to the promotions in the police department.
A few days back, the same case came up before the court but the DGP did not appear. Then, the High Court threatened to issue a warrant against the DGP himself if he did not follow its orders.
The High Court has taken the contempt case seriously. Already, the DGP had appeared before the court several times in the past in different cases. Even the Chief Secretary had to attend and give explanations for the Government’s lapses before the High Court.