Nainital, March 17 The Uttarakhand High Court, while hearing a plea by two senior IPS officers challenging their central deputation to a post lower than their current rank, has directed the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to file affidavits.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, asked both governments to clarify whether the initiative for the officers (Neeru Garg and Arun Mohan Joshi) deputation originated from the Centre or if the state government itself forwarded their names.
The court has also directed the petitioners to file a rejoinder affidavit in response to the state government's affidavit. The next hearing in this matter is scheduled for March 19.
According to a Union home ministry order, Garg—a 2005-batch officer from the Uttarakhand cadre—has been posted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), while Joshi—a 2006-batch officer from the Uttarakhand cadre—has been posted as DIG in the Border Security Force (BSF).
Both officers are currently serving in the Uttarakhand Police at the rank of Inspector General (IG). The police officers have argued that they neither applied for central deputation nor gave their consent for it; yet, they are being sent to a lower-ranking post.
The petition states that the officers had previously expressed their reluctance regarding central deputation, following which they were barred from such deputation for a period of five years.
Despite this, the state government forwarded their names to the Centre on February 16, subsequent to which the deputation orders were issued.
During the previous hearing, the state government stated that the officials should approach the Central Administrative Tribunal in this matter, whereas the petitioners' counsel argued that, since the proposal originated from the state government, the matter is maintainable before the High Court.