Telangana High Court and DGP CV Ananad
Hyderabad: As many as 64 Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank officers challenged the state’s new police seniority rules before the Telangana High Court on Friday, July 10.
After hearing the petitions, the High Court asked Director General of Police (DGP) CV Anand to review the new seniority rules and take a decision on their revision. The matter was adjourned till July 28.
The petitioners challenged the seniority formula introduced by the government, seeking that their seniority instead be determined under Rule 33 of the Telangana State and Subordinate Service Rules, 1996, rather than through the method laid down in government order (GO) 123.
Under the government order, seniority has been fixed based on a combination of marks secured in the Group-I examination conducted under the notification dated February 19, 2024, and marks obtained during induction training. The officers contend that this revised formula runs contrary to the existing service rules.
The officers are contesting the seniority rule through two separate petitions — the first filed by Mudusu Sreekanth and 32 other probationary Deputy SPs, and the second by Vislavath Arun Kumar and 31 others. Both petitions seek suspension of the operation of GO 123 pending final adjudication, with the petitioners alleging that the new seniority rule violates the Constitution.
Arguing before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, senior advocates L Sriram and Avinash Desai, appearing for the directly recruited Deputy SPs, submitted that the government order violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, which guarantee equality before law and equal opportunity in public employment.
They further argued that the revised seniority criteria could not be applied retrospectively to officers who had already been recruited and appointed before the government order was issued.
Following the hearing, the High Court sought a response from the Telangana government on the seniority issue. Representing the state, the government pleader for Home (Services) told the court that the matter relating to the seniority of directly recruited Deputy SPs had been referred to the General Administration Department (GAD) for consideration, and sought additional time to obtain instructions from the government.
This post was last modified on July 11, 2026 2:43 pm