A Bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia refused to entertain the petition and said the matter should be cleared by CAT. It allowed government counsel to withdraw the petition, giving him the liberty to approach CAT.

V N Raghupati, appearing for the Karnataka government, had sought a direction from the apex court that would clear the way for the appointment of the police chief in the state.

The state government appointed 1976-batch IPS officer S T Ramesh on January 31 as interim DGP after Ajay Kumar Singh retired. A petition was filed before CAT by another IPS officer D V Guruprasad, holding the post of I-G. He had staked his claim to the post as he also belonged to 1976 batch.

The appointment to the post was to be made as per the notification of the Union Public Service Commission directing the State government to consider all senior IPS officers with 30 years of service.