The recent transfer order issued to 31 police officers by the Home Department instead of Director General of Police (DGP) by the Lieutenant-Governor’s administration of Jammu and Kashmir has drawn strong criticism from former DGP Shesh Paul Vaid.
“The order of DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) issued by Home Department instead of DGP J&K is an attempt to undermine the authority of J&K Police Chief, Dilbag Singh and J&K Police Department. The police chief had the power to transfer DSPs since inception,” said Mr Vaid, who was Jammu and Kashmir’s DGP from December 2016 to September 2018, before the abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state, in a series of tweets Said.
Mr Vaid said the “repeated attempts” by the Union Territory’s civil administration to undermine the authority of the police headquarters and police chief have had a detrimental effect on the morale of the rank and file of the J&K Police.
“Earlier, the recruitment of sub-inspectors was taken over from the police headquarters and given to the civic body, the SSRB (Services Selection and Recruitment Board), which has not only been mired in controversies, scams of a highly transparent recruitment process conducted by the police headquarters. I got stuck and landed, Mr Vaid alleged.
He said that the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been facing an extraordinary situation for decades and nothing should be done to weaken the police department and its chief. Tagging Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha in his tweet, Mr Vaid said, “This requires your immediate intervention.”
Ever since the Center abrogated the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, several measures have been taken to regulate the police service in Kashmir. For the first time, scores of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were given the role of Station House Officer (SHO), and most districts were headed by IPS officers rather than local cadres of the Kashmir Police Service (KPS). The administration also decided to disallow the practice of police headquarters recruiting for middle and lower level staff in Jammu and Kashmir.
Supporting former DGP Vaid, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shafqat Watali, who joined the National Conference in 2019, said, “The Jammu and Kashmir Home Department has ordered the transfer and posting of DSPs. This is unprecedented as these powers were vested in DGP J&K. This undue micro-management by the Home Department is bound to undermine the institution of the DGP in this sensitive state and may lead to indiscipline and disobedience.