Setback for Kerala govt as SC reinstates TP Senkumar as Kerala DGP

April 24, 2017

New Delhi, Apr 24: In a major setback to the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, the Supreme Court reinstated TP Senkumar as the Kerala police chief on Monday.

Kerala government had replaced Senkumar with Loknath Behra, shortly after it came to power in May last year. But TP Senkumar chose to undermine the local ramifications and viewed the apex court’s landmark judgment against the backdrop of treatment meted out to IPS officers across the country.

“This fight was not personal, this judgment will help officers across India to continue doing their job with honesty and according to the law,” Senkumar told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. The Supreme Court bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta had held that Senkumar was “unfairly and arbitrarily” dealt with, while setting aside earlier orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal and the Kerala High Court upholding the state government decision and directed the government to reinstate him as the SPC.

There, however, remain questions regarding how Senkumar would function with a government which wanted him out, even if it could only be till June 30, when his service ends.

The LDF government, after assuming office in May 2016, had removed Senkumar as SPC on the grounds that the officer failed to gain “public confidence” in handling of two cases – the firework disaster at Puttingal temple in Kollam which killed 110 people and the murder of Jisha, a Dalit law student, in Perumbavoor near Kochi. Both incidents happened when the previous, Congress-led UDF government was in office.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had repeatedly backed the ouster, including during debates in the Legislative Assembly. On Monday, Vijayan said the government would study the judgment in detail and act accordingly. The political design behind the ouster has been a point of debate, with Senkumar reportedly perceived in the CPM top ranks as an officer who went against the party in important cases.

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala called Senkumar an upright, sincere officer and termed the SC judgment a serious setback to the government. The judgment comes at a time when the government is grappling with allegations of ineffective law and order systems in a number of cases and the police’s handling of the UAPA.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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