CM orders action against IPS officer

Upset with IPS officer R P Sharma for criticising the ruling party in a letter and "leaking" it to the media, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday directed Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha to initiate disciplinary action against the police officer.

Siddaramaiah, who held a meeting with Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy and top officials on the issue, asked Ratna Prabha to direct the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) to order an enquiry and initiate action against the officer as per the service rules.

Sharma, who is the president of the Karnataka IPS officers' association, has in a recent letter to the chief secretary taken exception to what he termed "political interference" into police duties. This has come as an embarrassment to the Congress ahead of the elections.

According to sources, Siddaramaiah was livid after the media started highlighting the development, including the contents of the letter. Siddaramaiah is learnt to have said that the officer had no authority to question the government's style of functioning.

The chief minister's office has claimed that association secretary Pronab Mohanty had clarified that Sharma's views were personal.

Following Siddaramaiah's directions, Ratna Prabha wrote to Sharma, seeking his clarification on whether it was a collective decision of the association members to write the letter, or if he had acted on his own accord.

She has sought the minutes of the association's meeting along with details on the number of signatories to the letter. Ratna Prabha also pulled up Sharma for making the letter public, especially when the elections are nearing.

She has also asked him to keep his political agenda aside and discharge his duties as a civil servant.
Sharma has been directed to reply by Tuesday.

Stating that the continued decline in the law and order situation was showing the police force in poor light, Sharma had sought Ratna Prabha to convene a meeting of IPS officers and retired policemen to discuss the issue.

Sharma had drawn attention to the recent attack on the Lokayukta, attacks on IAS officers V Rashmi and C Shikha in Mysuru, pub attack involving the son of Congress MLA N A Haris, and rising incidents of violence and hooliganism.

He had rued that police officers were being punished for merely discharging their duties.