The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), on July 28, refused to intervene in the suspension of Kerala Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) M.R. Ajitkumar IPS. In his petition, the ADGP argued that the Cabinet meeting scheduled for July 29 would appoint a new State Police Chief (Director General of Police), that his seniority would be overlooked, and that a junior officer was likely to be appointed. He sought urgent intervention in view of these developments.
M.R. Ajitkumar IPS further argued that his suspension should have been issued by the Chief Minister, who is in charge of the General Administration Department (GAD). Instead, it was signed by the Chief Secretary on behalf of the State Governor, and therefore, according to him, the suspension lacks legal validity.
However, the Government counsel argued that M.R. Ajitkumar was not fit for the position of the State Police Chief and that he had sabotaged an important case.
M.R. Ajitkumar IPS was suspended on July 24 for allegedly attempting to sabotage the investigation into the assaults on Youth Congress–KSU (Kerala chapter of the Congress-controlled NSUI) workers by the security personnel of the then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (CPM) on December 15, 2023, in Alappuzha.
Protesters who waved black flags during Pinarayi Vijayan’s Nav Kerala Sadas Yathra were beaten with lathis by the Chief Minister’s gunman and escort security personnel, an action that Vijayan controversially defended as a “rescue operation”.
He stated that if his security personnel had not resorted to that step, the vehicles would have hit the protesters. One protester was struck on the head with a plant pot, while another was hit on the head with a helmet. Visuals of the brutal assault went viral at the time.
The Special Investigation Team’s report made it clear that Ajitkumar had a role in sabotaging the case. Consequently, he was suspended on the recommendation of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. The report also recommended departmental inquiries against three Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs) and a Grade Sub-Inspector (SI) attached to the ADGP’s office in connection with the case.
The case stems from the December 15, 2023 assault on Youth Congress and KSU workers who waved black flags during then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Nava Kerala Sadas in Alappuzha. Vijayan defended the action by his security personnel as a “rescue operation”. Following a change of government, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) found that then ADGP M.R. Ajitkumar had allegedly attempted to sabotage the investigation by influencing officers and altering the course of the probe. Based on the SIT’s findings and the recommendation of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, the Kerala government suspended Ajitkumar on July 24, 2026.
