Allahabad High Court Strikes Down Appointment Of ADG Ashutosh Pandey As Director Prosecution

Prayagraj, May 20 (TNA) The Allahabad High Court has termed the appointment of Additional DGP Prosecution Ashutosh Pandey as Director of Prosecution illegal and has directed for a new appointment within six months. The High Court has passed this order on the petition of Kishan Kumar Pathak.

A division bench of Justice SP Kesarwani and Justice Jayant Banerjee has said that the appointment of Ashutosh as the head of the Prosecution Department is against Section 25A (2) of the CrPC. The petition said that the appointment of IPS officer Ashutosh Pandey to the post of Director Prosecution is wrong.

It was said on behalf of the petitioner that under Section 25A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, only an advocate can be appointed to this post. Pandey is not a lawyer but an IPS officer, therefore, he does not possess the qualification prescribed for the post in section 25A of CrPC.

It has also been said that the consent of the Chief Minister has not been taken before his appointment, which is necessary for appointment to the post of Director Prosecution under the said section of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Late Friday evening, the government transferred some IPS officials, in which the name of Ashutosh Pandey was also included. It is believed that after the order of the High Court, Ashutosh Pandey has been removed from ADG prosecution and sent to SSIT.