Merger of Chandigarh police cadre:Home ministry sets ball rolling, seeks objections

Setting the ball rolling to merge Chandigarh cadre with Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS), the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has invited objections to the proposal.

The MHA plans to merge all 23 sanctioned posts of UT deputy superintendent of police (DSP) with DANIPS, which also includes Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The merger will allow transfer of Chandigarh-cadre DSPs outside the city.

Chandigarh as of now has no policy in place for promotion of its police officers and uses Punjab police service rules. Of 23 posts of DSP, 10 are filled by DANIPS officers.

Objections invited

MHA in a letter on April 20 has invited both suggestions and objections to the draft policy, uploaded on the Chandigarh police website, by May 19. These have to be marked to Hitlar Singh, under secretary in the Government of India.

The draft policy proposal states the merger is suggested to “have uniformity in the composition of feeder grade for induction into the IAS/IPS from various segments”.

“Once the policy comes in place, posts in Chandigarh would be manned by the officers of entry grade of combined cadre of Delhi national capital territory (NCT) and UT police service and the Punjab police rules would no longer be applicable to Chandigarh police,” said a senior officer of Chandigarh police.

According to the draft policy, all DSPs in Chandigarh who have been promoted from the post of inspector and are within two years of retirement on the date of notification will be allowed to opt to stay back here. Similarly all inspectors within two years of their retirement may also be allowed the option.

“It is neither legal nor fair to apply the conditions of service of any particular state in the context of UT. It is prime facie in violation of the thematic spirit of the extant constitutional provisions,” reads the proposal.

In 2016, UT administrator VP Singh Badnore had given in-principle approval to Chandigarh police service rules to strengthen the role and number of local cadre officers in the force.

Why the policy now

The tug-of-war between DANIPS and UT-cadre police officers has been going on for long, necessitating framing of a policy. A contempt application was filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), wherein three inspectors — Gurmukh Singh, Charanjit Singh and Dilsher Singh — have stated that they have been deprived of promotion to DSP rank in the UT police despite fulfilling eligibility as on February 15, 2016.

The tribunal in its order in April 2017 set aside appointment of DANIPS officers to DSP posts in Chandigarh. The CAT had directed the UT to consider the case of applicants and other similar situated persons for promotion to the post of DSP if found eligible as contemplated under Punjab rules.