Telangana high court suspends tribunal order on brahmos director general suspension

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Wednesday ordered an interim suspension of an order of Hyderabad’s Central Administrative Tribunal that suspended the Director General, Brahmos on Dec 29.A division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin passed the directions while hearing petitions filed by the Union govt of India and Dr Jaiteerth Joshi, challenging the tribunal’s order suspending Joshi as the DG Brahmos.The bench directed counters to be filed by the respondents, in whose favour the tribunal ruled, in four weeks. It allowed two more weeks to the govt and other parties to file replies to the counters and adjourned the matter for further hearing. Joshi’s appointment as the DG Brahmos was challenged before the tribunal by Dr Sivasubramaniam Nambi Naidu, who claimed he had been superseded by Joshi despite being the senior-most candidate. Naidu, a Distinguished Scientist, is seven years senior to Joshi and has served as an Outstanding Scientist since 2017.Disposing of Naidu’s petition, the tribunal issued orders suspending Joshi and directed the Union Defence Ministry to appoint an incharge in his place, till a final decision is made.When the matter came up before the high court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing virtually, informed the bench that the current direction had been finalised by a selection committee comprising top Union govt officials and experts, not just keeping in view of the seniority but several other aspects keeping in view of the national interests on a long term and also the importance of Brahmos Missiles project, a joint venture between India and Russia.Senior Counsel S Niranjan Reddy, appearing for Joshi, argued that the selection criteria was not just to select someone ahead of excellence, but a person with an ability to lead, have managerial abilities, responsibility of corporate affairs and also the experience of handling international projects like Brahmos.Recording the submissions, the bench passed the directions.