The Tamil Nadu government’s policy of assigning non-IPS officers to cadre posts meant for IPS officers has come in for sharp criticism from the IPS Officers’ Association, which described the long-term impact of violating the cadre rules as a matter of “grave concern”.
In a strongly worded letter to the Home Secretary, the association’s Tamil Nadu chapter president and Director-General of Police K.P. Maghendran said IPS officers in the State felt that the rules framed by Parliament as regards posting of cadre officers were being flouted, much to the disadvantage of “young direct IPS officers”.
Limited tenure
Citing Rule (2) of The Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, Mr. Maghendran said, “A cadre officer can only be an officer of the Indian Police Service and no one else.”
Pointing out that every cadre post should essentially be filled by a cadre officer, he said that where a non-IPS officer is posted to a cadre post due to exceptional circumstances, “such a posting cannot continue for a period beyond three months unless the State government obtains prior approval from the Central government.”
Mr. Maghendran said that going by the established rules, the 76 cadre posts in the rank of Superintendent of Police / Deputy Commissioner of Police should be filled only by IPS officers, whereas the State had filled 54% of the posts with non-cadre officers.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a clear directive that the provisions under Rule (9) of The Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, was to ensure that “a non-cadre officer is not appointed to a cadre post if a suitable cadre officer is available.”
Court rulings
Besides a Supreme Court order clearly mandating that only IPS officers should be assigned to cadre posts, there was also the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which struck down the appointment of non-cadre officers to cadre posts, with the judges saying, “We have absolutely no doubt that non-cadre officers, under no circumstances, can be permitted to hold the cadre posts of IPS for a period of more than three months...”
The Bench went on to add that such postings without the approval of the Centre and the Union Public Service Commission were impermissible in law and contravened the very object of the constitution of All India Services.
The DGP said that the career planning of an IPS officer would be complete only if he/she is given adequate opportunity to learn from the experience gathered in a cadre post.
“Unlike the IAS cadre management in Tamil Nadu, the policy of assigning non-cadre officers to cadre posts has reached such an imbroglio that it is not only affecting the morale of the IPS officers but also perturbing their career planning and growth.”
In February, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the T.N. government not to “over-utilise” the State Deputation Reserve.
A majority of Superintendents of Police in the State are not IPS officers.
