Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Friday questioned the locus standi of an advocate who challenged the appointment of IPS officers to posts traditionally held by IAS officers.Justice EV Venugopal asked how the petitioner, advocate Vadla Srikanth, was personally aggrieved by the appointments and directed him to implead any affected persons, if any. The court adjourned the matter to April 15 for further hearing. Srikanth’s petition challenges a Sept 2025 govt order appointing senior IPS officers to key administrative posts: Stephen Ravindra as commissioner of civil supplies and ex-officio principal secretary to the govt, Shikha Goel as director general, vigilance and enforcement and ex-officio principal secretary, and CV Anand as special chief secretary, home department. The petitioner contended that these appointments violate the IAS (Cadre) Rules and IAS (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Amendment Regulations, 2016, and sought directions to the state govt to remove the IPS officers and fill the posts with IAS officers. At an earlier hearing, Justice Surepally Nanda had issued notices to the chief secretary and principal secretary, general administration dDepartment, directing them to respond to the petition.
