Consider proposal to make Police Dept a state cadre: High Court

The HP High Court has directed the state government to consider a proposal for making the Police Department, irrespective of its officer(s)/official(s) rank and profile, to be a state cadre.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya permitted the Police Department to transfer non-gazetted officers grade-II, who are brought on the district rolls, to be posted to the Vigilance, CID, TTR, Ranger office, CTS, police headquarters, etc, anywhere in the state.

The court directed that the non-gazetted officers grade-II could also be posted in battalions after the completion of basic training. However, that the battalion essentially need not be in its home district.

The court clarified in its order that the department would also be at liberty to transfer every constable to specialised constabulary for cybercrime, vigilance, intelligence narcotic, SDRF etc., as there was a dire need for modern policing.

While passing these directions, the court observed that “the necessity of issuing aforesaid directions otherwise arises given the fact that the post of non-gazetted officer grade-II was made a district cadre under the archaic Punjab Police Rules enacted in 1934, which were originally applied to the combined Punjab including the current Himachal, Punjab and Haryana. Such provisions were simply incorporated in the HP Police Act despite the fact that as against meagre perks and salaries to the non-gazetted officers at the time of enactment of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, the same have drastically improved. Therefore, like many of the counterparts with the same or even lesser salary and perks in other government sector, who hold state cadre post, the police also needs to be made state cadre post or else faith in the police system would be completely eroded for we have invariably found that many of the police official(s)/officer(s) have been posted for years together at one station and we are not at all ready to accept the plea that services of all such persons are absolutely ‘indispensable’.”

“We may also add that in recent times we came across a number of cases where many of the police official(s)/officer(s) have been found indulging in serious and heinous offences like carrying and transporting narcotic drugs and psychotropic substance or illicit drugs falling within the purview of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and even blatantly violating law,” the court observed.

It observed that “One such incident took place in this very police station of Nalagarh where seven of its officials/officer have been found guilty of custodial torture and their services were placed under suspension and what is still worse is that these officials did not choose to surrender even after their bail petitions were dismissed by this court.”

The court directed the DGP to file a compliance affidavit by November 30.

Dire need for modern policing

The High Court has clarified in its order that the Police Department will be at liberty to transfer every constable to specialised constabulary for cybercrime, vigilance, intelligence narcotic, SDRF etc., as there is a dire need for modern policing