Thiruvananthapuram: Indian Police Service Officer TP Senkumar has been reinstated as Kerala police chief almost a year after he was removed by the Left-led government.

Dr Senkumar, 59, had moved the Supreme Court, which cancelled the Kerala government’s transfer order today, calling it “arbitrary”.

When the LDF government came to power last year in Kerala, Dr Senkumar was replaced by Loknath Behra as the Director General of Police. Dr Senkumar was appointed chairman and managing director of the Kerala Police Housing and Construction Corporation.

The government told the Supreme Court that there was pubic unrest because of the way the Jisha rape and murder case was handled on Dr Senkumar’s watch. The police was accused of not taking action on time after 30-year-old law student Jisha’s body was found in her home bruised and battered, with her intestines pulled out.

The top police officer was also blamed for poor response to a temple blaze in April last year. Some 110 people died when a fireworks display at the Puttingal temple caused an explosion and a massive fire.

He challenged his removal in the High Court, saying he was being persecuted because he had taken strong, independent action in cases of political violence in Kerala. Denying that he had failed in his duties, he also argued that the tenure of a police chief in Kerala is fixed at a minimum of two years.

After the high court rejected his case, he went to the Supreme Court.