A group of retired Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) officers has moved the Supreme Court with a contempt petition against the Union Home Secretary, Govind Mohan (IAS:1989:SK), over the deputation of IPS officers in the CAPFs. These officers have alleged the willful non-implementation of the apex court’s ruling to “progressively reduce” the deputation of IPS officers in the Senior Administrative Grade or up to the rank of Inspector General (IG) in CAPFs.
The petition has been filed by four retired CAPFs officers—Mahender Singh Deo, Radha Mohan Meena, Vikesh Kumar, and Sanjay Prakash, the original petitioner in the case. The petitions were filed on three different dates: on Dec 3, 6, and 9.
The Supreme Court on May 23 last year had directed the Union Govt to “progressively reduce” the deputation of IPS officers in CAPFs up to the level of IGs in the next two years, while conducting the time-bound review of cadre and service rules in six months.
The apex court had ruled that Group A Executive Cadre officers of CAPFs are Organised Group A Services (OGAS) for all purposes.
The top court’s ruling virtually meant a significant reduction in the IPS dominance in CAPFs, as around 13,000 CAPF officers are likely to directly benefit from the apex court’s judgement in securing faster promotions and overcoming stagnation.
But the Supreme Court’s ruling was challenged by the Union Home Ministry, which is the cadre-controlling authority of both the CAPFs and the IPS. But the top court dismissed the review petition on October 28, 2025, making the ruling final.
Following it, the Home Ministry, on December 26, wrote to the Director General (DG) of all CAPFs—the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the Assam Rifles—to undertake a comprehensive review of Group A cadres and submit detailed proposals to the Ministry.
A CAPF official pointed out that the May 23 top court judgment also asked to review the service rules within a period of six months that effectively grant them the status of OGAS.
Virtually, the purpose of cadre review, done every five years, is to determine future requirements and plan recruitment to avoid promotional blocks. It is done to enhance the effectiveness of the service by harmonising the functional needs with the legitimate career expectations of its members. But unfortunately, no cadre review has been undertaken for the last ten years, with the last cadre review having been conducted in 2016.
These former CAPF officers contend that despite SC directives, the deputation of IPS officers is continuing in CAPFs, and there is no attempt to amend the service rules or undertake cadre review.
At present, 20% of posts in the DIG rank and 50% of posts in the rank of IG in CAPFs are reserved for IPS officers.
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