Senior IPS officer moves HC to expunge 'tainted officer' remark

Senior IPS officer Seemant Kumar Singh has moved a petition praying for quashing of the order passed by Justice H P Sandesh orally directing the secretary DPAR to produce the service records as well as seeking expunging oral remarks made against him during the hearing in a bail petition.

The court had orally called anti-corruption bureau (ACB) a ‘collection centre’ and Seemant Kumar Singh a ‘tainted officer’.

In the previous hearing, the court had summoned the service records of Seemant Kumar Singh from Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms. A 1996 batch IPS officer, Seemant Singh has prayed for a restraint order against the judge from making further remarks and also prayed for an interim order against considering his service records.

The petitioner claimed that the service records were placed before the single bench.

“It is apparent that the single judge has traversed beyond the scope of the petition filed before the court and is virtually treating it as a public interest petition. Therefore, the order of summoning service records of petitioner is without jurisdiction and unsustainable,” the petition said.

Singh stated that the petition pending before Justice Sandesh is for grant of bail and there is no relief claimed against him and he is neither a party to the petition.

The petitioner said that the single judge had made the observation that Seemant Kumar Singh is most powerful in north India and transcripts of the proceedings from Justice Sandesh’s court on June 29 and July 4 would leave no doubt that the observations made are adverse remarks.