The Allahabad High Court on Friday declared the
appointment of senior IPS officer Ashutosh Pandey as the head of the Uttar
Pradesh Directorate of Prosecution as illegal and without authority of law.
The court said the appointment was contrary to statutory
provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which states that a person
holding this post must be in practice as an advocate for not less than 10 years
and such an appointment should be made with the concurrence of the chief
justice of the state's high court.
Besides, the court also directed the state
government to ensure the appointment of a new director of prosecution within
six month's time.
Allowing a petition filed by Kishan Kumar Pathak, a
division bench comprising Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Jayant
Banerji observed, "Provisions of section 25A(2) of the CrPC are mandatory.
In the present case, Ashutosh Pandey, neither possesses the essential
qualification nor his appointment has been made with the concurrence of the
chief justice of the high court."
The court held the appointment as illegal and
without authority of law.
A 1992-batch IPS officer Pandey is currently the
additional director general prosecution and heads the directorate of
prosecution.