Nainital, March 13 Two senior IPS officers of the Uttarakhand cadre filed a petition in the high court challenging their deputation to posts allegedly lower than their current rank in central forces.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, hearing the petition, sought a response from the government on the matter.
According to the petition, through an order by the Union Home Ministry, Garg, a 2005-batch IPS officer, was posted as deputy inspector general (DIG) in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), while Joshi, a 2006-batch IPS officer, was appointed as DIG in the Border Security Force (BSF).
Both officers are currently serving as inspector generals of police in the Uttarakhand Police and have challenged their deputation on the grounds that they have neither applied for central deputation, nor consented to it.
The petitioners said that being transferred to the lower rank of DIG is also against service rules.
The petition further states that the officers had previously expressed their reluctance to receive central deputation. However, the state government forwarded their names to the central government on February 16, 2026, following which their deputation orders were issued, it said.
During the hearing, the state government's counsel argued that if the officers had any objections to the decision, they should approach the Central Administrative Tribunal.
However, the petitioners' counsel replied that since the proposal came from the state government, it was appropriate to bring the matter before the Uttarakhand High Court.
After hearing the arguments, the division bench directed the state government to file a response on the matter.