Senior IPS officer of AP cadre, A B Venkateswara Rao, who is under suspension, gave a hard hitting reply to the show-cause notice served to him by the state government. Chief secretary Sameer Sharma had issued the show-cause notice asking him to reply within one week. However, he took no time to reply to the notice.

Venkateswara Rao said that he spoke to the media as his self-respect was damaged by some vested interests. He said he has the right to protect his own honour and his basic rights.

Venkateswara Rao addressed a press conference in Vijayawada on March 21, denying the allegation of the TDP government purchasing the Pegasus spyware, when he was the state intelligence chief. It was alleged that the IPS officer did not have the state government’s permission to speak to the media.

Speaking to the media without advance permission from the government is a violation of Rule 6 of the All India Services Rules, the chief secretary said in the show-cause notice. Responding to this charge, the IPS officer said that the Constitution has guaranteed his rights to protect his image and dignity. He also said that the All India Service Rules also give him the opportunity to speak when his image is damaged in the public.

In a way the reply to the show-cause notice was a clear challenge to the government, which had suspended him already and is not willing to take him into the services. Incidentally, the Central government too had authorised the state to take action against the IPS officer.

After addressing the press conference on March 21, the IPS officer also wrote a letter to the government seeking permission to file a defamation suit against the Sakshi media group, chief public relations officer Pudi Srihari and MP V Vijay Sai Reddy for making baseless allegations against him.