SC directs reduction in IPS postings at CAPFs

In a landmark order, the Supreme Court has directed that the deputation of IPS officers up to the inspector general rank in the CAPFs should be “progressively reduced” over two years to give more opportunities to cadre officers.
Pronouncing the order on May 23, a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka (since retired) and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed that delayed promotions of cadre officers in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) can “adversely” impact morale.
The much-delayed cadre review of these CAPFs, stayed by the top court in 2020, should be carried out in six months, the Supreme Court bench also said while disposing of multiple grievance petitions filed by officers of these organisations.
The five central police forces — CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB — commanded by the Union Home Ministry are deployed for a variety of law-and-order duties, internal security jobs like border guarding, countering terrorism and insurgency and conducting elections.
The petitioners, initially about 18,000 officers of these forces, filed applications beginning in 2009, seeking a cadre review by the home ministry by treating each one of them as Organised Group A Service (OGAS) so that their issues related to delay in timely promotions leading to stagnation across various ranks for years altogether can be resolved.
The apex court said it was “abundantly clear” that CAPFs have been treated as OGAS for cadre issues and all other related matters. When CAPFs have been declared as OGAS, all benefits available to OGAS should naturally flow to the CAPFs, the SC said, adding it cannot be that they are granted one benefit and denied the other.
According to the petitioners, because Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were occupying posts up to the senior administrative grade (IG rank), their promotional prospects were being “hampered” leading to stagnation in the service hierarchy, the order noted.
The SC bench ordered: “Let the cadre review in all CAPFs which was due in the year 2021 be carried out within a period of six months from today.”
The court said the move would bring in “a sense of participation of the cadre officers belonging to the CAPFs in the decision-making process within the administrative framework of the CAPFs, thereby removing the long-standing grievances of the cadre officers.”
Presently, 50 per cent of posts at the IG level in these forces are reserved for IPS officers, while about 15 per cent of deputy inspector general (DIG)-rank posts are kept for officers in deputation from the all-India service apart from those from the Army (5 per cent).
The home ministry opposed the CAPF cadre officers’ plea, saying IPS officers were an “important” part of the hierarchy.
Since these forces are deployed in various states, IPS officers were “essential” for the effective operation of CAPFs, facilitating cooperation with the state governments concerned and their respective police forces, thus preserving the federal structure, the ministry said through its counsel.