The Himachal High Court came down heavily on the state government for appointing Himachal Pradesh Police Service (HPPS) officers on Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre posts in the rank of superintendents of police (SPs). The HC raised serious concerns over it terming such appointments as “violations of the IPS Cadre Rules”.
A division bench of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja made this observation while hearing a 2024 Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking police reforms in the state.
The bench made special mention to HPS officers being posted on cadre (IPS) posts specifically as SP, Sirmour and SP, Baddi. The court said that the posts of SP, Sirmour and SP, Baddi are IPS Cadre posts as per the IPS Civil List issued by the state government for the year 2024. It further noted that the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules 8 and 9 clearly state that cadre posts are to be filled by cadre officers. The court cited the IPS (Cadre) Rules as well as the judgment of the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court to make it clear that IPS cadre posts must be occupied by IPS officers only. “The state government is, therefore, in violation of these rules,” the High Court said.
The post of Baddi SP came into media glare after the then SP, Ilma Afroz, had to proceed on long leave last year following differences with local Congress MLA over illegal mining. The state government had then appointed HPPS officer ASP Rajesh Dhiman as the Baddi SP. In the similar fashion, another HPPS officer, Nischint Negi, was posted as the Sirmour SP after SP Raman Meena was sent on the central deputation in January.
While making these observations, the bench also discussed various police reforms suggested by a 2018 judgment of the Uttarakhand High Court, which had issued 14 comprehensive directives aimed at improving police welfare and service conditions. The directives included introducing eight- hour duty shifts, granting 45 days’ extra salary to compensate for the strenuous nature of police work, and creating a dedicated welfare corpus.
The bench also suggested the establishment of Special Courts for NDPS Crimes along with an Intelligence Division Overhaul.
Other suggested reforms included the constitution of highway patrol units, under each District SP to handle traffic enforcement, accident response and road safety among others.
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