Rao was accused of misusing his position to buy substandard equipment for the Andhra Pradesh Police and benefit his son.
IPS officer AB Vekateswar Rao. (Supplied)
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued directions allowing the Andhra Pradesh government to impose a penalty on 1989 batch IPS officer AB Venkateswara Rao.
This penalty includes a reduction in the time scale of pay in two stages till 31 May, 2024.
The MHA, in a communication to the state Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, said the senior IPS officer would not earn increments of pay during this period, and the reduction would have the effect of postponing future increments of his pay on the expiry of this period.
The MHA also said that after advice from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on the penalty, the directions had been forwarded to the Andhra Pradesh government.
However, the UPSC had not imposed a penalty of dismissal on AB Venkateswara Rao.
Rao was the intelligence chief during the TDP regime between 2014 and 2019 and was placed under suspension on 8 February, 2020, by the current YSRCP government for his alleged involvement in irregularities in the purchase of security surveillance equipment from an Israeli firm.
The government also initiated disciplinary proceedings against Rao.
Following his suspension, Rao approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which set aside his suspension.
Challenging the high court order, the state government approached the Supreme Court, which upheld the high court order.
Following the Supreme Court order the government cancelled his suspension and later gave a posting to Rao.
AB Venkateswara Rao, whom peers and detractors call ABV, was the additional DGP overlooking the intelligence operations of the then N Chandrababu Naidu government between 2014 and 2019.
ABV had always come under intense criticism from YSRCP leaders, especially from party Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy — a key aide of current Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
When in the Opposition, Vijayasai Reddy never missed any opportunity to criticise ABV.
He alleged that ABV worked for the political interests of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and also accused him of luring 23 YSRCP MLAs into the TDP fold.
As per the Articles of Charge framed by the government, ABV initiated the process of procurement of AEROSTAT- an airborne ground surveillance system and unmanned aerial vehicles — drones — for the Andhra Pradesh Police under the scheme of Modernisation of Police Force (MOPF) for the year 2017-18 to be used in anti-extremist and security operations.
He also actively pursued the promotion and finalisation of a firm by the name RT Inflatable Objects Limited / RTLTA Systems Limited of Israel — pressuring the members of the committee with a clear objective of selecting the company as a supplier of security equipment by compromising on quality, technical capability, demonstration, and purchase procedures apart from warranty and AMC guarantees, added the charges.
The charges also said that the process was initiated only to get illegal benefits to his son A Chetan Sai Krishna, CEO of Akasam Advanced Systems Limited, who was the Indian representative of these Israel companies and thereby compromised public interest.
He thus violated the All India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968, namely Rules 3(1A)(2) & 3(2B)(iv) and 3(2B)(vii), said the state government.
May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024
