Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. (File)A DAY after the transfer of 104 superintendent of police-rank IPS officers across the state, nine of the officers were asked to not leave their current posting. Later in the day, while five of these officers were given different postings, the transfer of one officer was cancelled. This follows a similar incident under the current state government when, a day after a round of transfers of SP-rank officers on October 21, some of the transferred officers were asked to continue in the same posting or were transferred to other posts.
Incidentally, it was current state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis who had raised questions when IPS postings had been stayed a day after transfer orders during the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s regime, and sought answers about the reason behind the same.
An order issued on Tuesday by ADG (establishment), S K Singhal, stated that apart from Prashant Mohite, Namrata Patil, Sandeep Doiphode, Deepak Deoraj, Sunil Lokhande, Prakash Gaikwad, Tirupati Kakade, Yogesh Chavan and Sharmila Gharge, other officers mentioned in the transfer order on Monday should be relieved immediately.
Of the nine officers who have been asked to remain in their current posts, six officers have either currently or in the past worked in the Thane Commissionerate or nearby Vasai-Virar or Palghar District Police. Thane is believed to be the hub of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
These nine officers were part of the 104 IPS officers transferred across the state on Monday. Mohite was transferred to Anti-Corruption Bureau (Thane), Patil to Mahashtra Economic Offences Wing, Doiphode to Mira-Bhayandar Vasai Virar Commissionerate, Deoraj to SRPF Pune, Lokhande to Nagpur city, Gaikwad to Solapur, Kakade to Force One, Yogesh Chavan to Navi Mumbai and Gharge to ACB Nashik.
In the order issued late at night, postings of Deoraj, Lokhande, Patil, Gaikwad and Kakade were changed.
“Usually, officers who are unhappy with their postings approach government officials after the transfer orders are issued. On several occasions, they manage to get their voices heard and their transfers are put on hold,” said a government official.
The official, however, added that while a few cases could be genuine, transfer orders being put on hold on multiple occasions did indicate interference in police postings, where officers lobby with certain ministers to get particular postings.
A similar incident had taken place when 25 IPS officers had been transferred by the current dispensation on October 21, but only a day later, some of them were asked to stay on their current postings.
In April this year, Fadnavis, then the leader of opposition, had raised questions over the MVA government’s decision to stay its own order of transferring some IPS officers and sought to know the reason behind the move.
This was after the MVA government stayed the transfer orders of five of the 40 officers who had been transferred.
Fadnavis had then said, “Why were the transfer orders of IPS officers put on hold, and that too immediately after they were issued? A similar incident had taken place some months ago and some transfer orders had come under the CBI scanner.”
“During the Fadnavis-led government’s rule between 2014 and 2019, he was the CM and the home minister and had the liberty to carry out police postings without any interference. Now, he may also have to take into consideration if there are any requests from the CM,” said an official.