The Bombay High Court recently requested the Director General of Police in charge of recruitments to ensure that the 8,757 posts of constable, police naik, head constable, and assistant police sub-inspector are filled expeditiously.
One Manish Kumar had moved the Supreme Court seeking directions that vacant posts of police personnel in all States and Union Territories be filled. The apex court disposed of the matter directing its order to be communicated to each high court by the Registry of the SC requiring the Chief Justices of the high courts to suo motu register a public interest litigation and issue directions that the vacant posts in the police department be filled.
On August 5, the Bombay HC asked the State to file an affidavit disclosing the number of posts lying vacant in the police department with further information as to the stage of the process to fill the vacancies.
The affidavit said from the lowest rung (the post of constable) to the highest rung (Director General of Police), of the 2,19,268 posts, 2,07,725 posts have been filled, leaving 11,543 vacant. That means vacant posts are only 5% of the total workforce. Of the 11,543, the bulk vacancies (1,955) are of police sub-inspector and 8,757 are of constable, police naik, head constable, and assistant police sub- inspector.
“Pertaining to 1,955 posts of police sub-inspector, 750 have been recruited and are under training at Maharashtra Police Academy, Nashik. The training commenced on October, 22, 2018. Another 650 directly recruited candidates will soon join since the police sub-inspector examination-2017 is under way. This would lead to 883 posts of directly recruited police sub-inspectors for which the Maharashtra Public Service Commission has been notified to initiate the process,” the affidavit said.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre said 100% posts cannot be filled in any department because retirement, resignation or death would cause vacancies and time would be consumed to fill those.
