Even as a section of the Congress leadership here loyal to K. Sudhakaran, MP, is going for the head of Superintendent of Police (SP) Anup Kuruvila John following his order to remove the poster praising the MP from near the Armed Reserve camp here and the suspension of six police personnel and functionaries of the Kerala Police Association district unit, legal circles here point out that any move to transfer the police officer under political compulsions will be in violation of the Kerala Police Act, 2011 which stipulates a minimum tenure of two years for police officers at a given posting.
The followers of Mr. Sudhakaran have given vent to their ire on the SP for his action of ordering the removal of the poster and the subsequent suspension of the police personnel for defying the order. But Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary P. Jayarajan has accused Mr. Sudhakaran and his supporters of indulging in moves to replace Mr. John, who is expected to go for training soon, with a ‘favoured' officer.
The legal circles say that the government cannot buckle under pressure to transfer a police officer before his or her tenure ends, as Section 97 of the Act ensures a two-year minimum tenure for police officers including the State Police Chief, Inspectors-General of Police, SPs, Commissioners, and Station House Officers.
Mr. John was posted as SP here in June 2011, nearly 14 months after he had been transferred from here to Thiruvananthapuram as Assistant Inspector-General of Police, allegedly under pressure from the CPI(M) district leadership. His transfer had stirred a controversy then as it was seen as a violation of the rules governing transfer of police officers.
As per the Act, the police officer should not be transferred before the tenure ends. The tenure, however, is not applicable in cases of superannuation, promotion, reversion, suspension, leave, etc. The government can transfer a police officer before the tenure ends on the grounds of disciplinary action, involvement in corrupt practice or criminal offence, physical or mental incapability, evaluation of superior officers that he or she is not discharging the duties sufficiently, public dissatisfaction about his or her efficiency, and the officer's own request for transfer.
The legal circles say that the Act safeguards a police officer from the caprices of political leaders. The minimum tenure of two years was fixed in the Act enacted in compliance with a directive of the Supreme Court, they say.
The flipside of the row over the SP's action, which drew flak from the Sudhakaran loyalists and won accolades from the CPI(M) as well as the anti-Sudhakaran camp in the Congress, is that it gives a sense of déjà vu. Many Congress leaders had criticised the government for transferring Mr. John in April 2010 just 10 months after he was appointed as SP here. His transfer then was seen as politically motivated as it had come days after the then district secretary of the CPI(M) P. Sasi took strong exception to the handling by police officers, including Mr. John, of the clashes between CPI(M) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers at Keezhur here.
