Senior IPS officer Yogesh Gupta (IPS:1993:KL), currently serving as Director General, Fire and Rescue Services, has filed a petition before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the Kerala government, alleging deliberate obstruction of his career prospects at the national level.
Gupta, also the Kerala IPS Association president, claimed that the state government withheld a vigilance clearance report sought by the Union Home Ministry, which is mandatory for his empanelment to Central service.
According to his petition, the Centre had made nine separate requests, via letters and emails, but the state did not respond. The Home Ministry had first sought details of his service record in April, with instructions to expedite the report. Though State Police Chief S Sheikh Darvesh Sahib submitted a favourable note in May to Chief Secretary A. Jayathilak, the government allegedly failed to forward it to Delhi.
Gupta said his repeated representations, including a complaint through the Chief Minister’s Grievance Redressal Portal, went unanswered. His RTI request for a copy of the vigilance report was also rejected.
In his CAT plea, Gupta has demanded disciplinary action and penalties against officials, describing the delay as a “willful attempt to ruin” his career.
The dispute underscores Gupta’s strained ties with the Pinarayi Vijayan government. Once seen as a trusted officer, his standing declined after, as Vigilance chief, he submitted case files against the CM’s aide KM Abraham directly to the High Court, leading to a CBI probe. Although Abraham later secured a stay from the Supreme Court, Gupta was soon removed from the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau and shifted to Fire and Rescue Services.
Since then, Gupta has remained in less influential postings, and his prospects for a Central posting continue to face uncertainty.
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