An uneasy calm prevails among the IPS officers in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s recent dismissal of the Centre’s plea challenging its judgment for a progressive reduction in the deputation posts of IPS officers to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). This development paves the way for a gradual erosion in the dominance of IPS officers within the paramilitary forces.
The CAPFs comprise the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
In what can, arguably, be termed as a blow to the IPS lobby in the country, the Supreme Court, in its judgment on May 23, had directed the Centre to progressively reduce the deputation of IPS officers in the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG), or up to the rank of Inspector General in the CAPFs within an outer limit of two years. This judgment was delivered by a bench of justices, A.S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan.
But the Central Government rushed to the apex court with a petition seeking review of its judgment to progressively reduce the IPS officers’ deputation to the CAPFs. But the Centre’s plea was dismissed by a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan on October 28.
The importance of this Supreme Court’s decision is mammoth for the IPS officers, as 20% of posts in the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and 50% of posts in the rank of Inspector General (IG) in CAPFs are reserved for IPS officers.
This is the culmination of the efforts of Group A officers of the CAPFs, who moved the top court in 2021 seeking Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFFU), cadre review and restructuring, and amendments to recruitment rules to eliminate IPS deputation and enable internal promotions up to the SAG level.
While this supreme verdict brings major relief to around 13,000 CAPF officers who now stand a chance of benefiting from it through faster promotions and reduced stagnation, it spells doom for the dominance of the IPS officers within the forces.
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