Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij objects to appointment of IPS officer to IAS cadre post

By PTI

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij has opposed the move approved by the CM’s office to appoint an IPS officer to a post meant for the IAS cadre, stressing the need for a nod from the Centre.

In the past too, Vij had expressed his unhappiness over IPS officers being posted on non-policing jobs, citing shortage of police officers.

The minister is of the firm opinion that the Police Department cannot relieve IPS officers for their posting to a cadre post of IAS officers till the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) grants approval for it, sources said.

Recently, senior IPS officer Shatrujeet Kapoor, who also holding the post of the transport principal secretary was relieved of the charge after his appointment as the Director General of the State Vigilance Bureau.

The post of transport principal secretary has fallen vacant.

The state government proposed the name of another senior IPS officer and the CM’s office okayed it but Vij, in an official communication, insisted that the government has to seek prior approval of the DoPT before appointing an IPS officer to an IAS cadre post, the sources said.

Kapoor was earlier also posted as the chairman-cum-managing director of the power discoms while ADGP O P Singh posted as the special officer (community policing and outreach) in the Chief Minister’s Office.

As per provisions of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules on temporary appointment, a cadre post in a state shall not be filled by a person who is not a cadre officer, except if there is no suitable officer available for filling the vacancy.

The rules also say that cadre post shall be filled only in accordance with principles, which include that if there is a Select List in force, the appointment will be made in the order of the names of the officers in the list.

If it is proposed to depart from the order of names appearing in the Select List, the state government will make a proposal to Centre along with reasons and the appointment will be made only with the approval of the Union government, as per the rules.