The Telangana High Court on Monday issued notices to the state government after a social activist filed a petition against posting IPS officers in IAS posts of Principal Secretary. Justice Surepalli Nanda directed the Chief Secretary to submit counter affidavits and set the next hearing for December 10. The petitioner, V. Srikanth’s lawyer Vijay Gopal, said the government order Rt. 1342, dated September 26, allowing IPS officers to hold Principal Secretary posts, was illegal and unconstitutional. "The GO was against the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954 and the IAS (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Amendment Regulations-2016," he argued. During a recent reshuffle, IPS officers C.V. Anand, Shikha Goel, and Stephen Ravindra were posted as Principal Secretaries, though these posts are supposed to be held by IAS officers. The petitioner also raised concerns that an IPS officer functioning as Home Secretary could approve telephone tapping under the Telecommunications Act-2023, which may trigger the "Doctrine of Bias" since the officer belongs to the police department. Despite submitting a representation to the Chief Secretary, no action was taken. The petitioner urged the High Court to declare the postings unconstitutional and order the removal of IPS officers from these IAS posts.