Reinstated Andhra DGP courts trouble
If independence and impartiality are indeed prime requirements from a civil servant, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh, SSP Yadav, would not quite measure up. He recently asserted “Every civil servant should be loyal to the government.”
After assuming office, the DGP launched a blistering attack against the Election Commission (EC), media, opposition parties and some senior ‘disloyal’ IPS officers. His letter war against the EC has created constitutional ripples in the state. He could face action for questioning the EC’s order to remove him from the top post for violating the model code of conduct during the 2009 LS elections.
Before the elections, the DGP had praised the Congress government and the Chief Minister for various schemes and for issuing GOs for the recruitment of 37,500 cops. Yadav described this as a feat that no other government had achieved.
Moreover, the DGP visited Singapore during the election process without informing the EC. Video clippings of the meeting where Mr. Yadav also referred to the efforts made by the CM for welfare of cops were sent to the EC. The EC had ordered Mr. Yadav to be replaced by A. K. Mohanty, as DGP for conducting ‘free and fair polls’ in the state.
However, less than 24 hours after YS Rajasekhara Reddy took oath as CM for the second time, he brought back Yadav as DGP. Immediately, he dashed off three letters to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) IV Subbarao, seeking the reasons for his replacement as DGP.
“Though I largely report only to EC, I am part of the state general administration department (GAD). Therefore, I met the Chief Secretary of Andhra to apprise him of DGP’s letters,” CEO Subbarao told TSI.
“EC is not bound to give any explanation to anyone. It’s answerable only to the President. Hence it was not proper for DGP to write letters to CEO,” ex-Chief Election Commissioner, J. M. Lyngdoh told TSI. Another former CEC, TS Krishna Murthy, who is ‘unaware’ of the episode properly, generalised that EC was entitled to transfer anyone when s/he in its view was not fit to conduct elections fairly. Meanwhile, it is known that the EC is likely to convene a meeting of the disciplinary action committee and issue a strict warning to DGP Yadav for his unprecedented and unwarranted gesture.
If independence and impartiality are indeed prime requirements from a civil servant, the Director General of Police (DGP) of Andhra Pradesh, SSP Yadav, would not quite measure up. He recently asserted “Every civil servant should be loyal to the government.”
After assuming office, the DGP launched a blistering attack against the Election Commission (EC), media, opposition parties and some senior ‘disloyal’ IPS officers. His letter war against the EC has created constitutional ripples in the state. He could face action for questioning the EC’s order to remove him from the top post for violating the model code of conduct during the 2009 LS elections.
Before the elections, the DGP had praised the Congress government and the Chief Minister for various schemes and for issuing GOs for the recruitment of 37,500 cops. Yadav described this as a feat that no other government had achieved.
Moreover, the DGP visited Singapore during the election process without informing the EC. Video clippings of the meeting where Mr. Yadav also referred to the efforts made by the CM for welfare of cops were sent to the EC. The EC had ordered Mr. Yadav to be replaced by A. K. Mohanty, as DGP for conducting ‘free and fair polls’ in the state.
However, less than 24 hours after YS Rajasekhara Reddy took oath as CM for the second time, he brought back Yadav as DGP. Immediately, he dashed off three letters to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) IV Subbarao, seeking the reasons for his replacement as DGP.
“Though I largely report only to EC, I am part of the state general administration department (GAD). Therefore, I met the Chief Secretary of Andhra to apprise him of DGP’s letters,” CEO Subbarao told TSI.
“EC is not bound to give any explanation to anyone. It’s answerable only to the President. Hence it was not proper for DGP to write letters to CEO,” ex-Chief Election Commissioner, J. M. Lyngdoh told TSI. Another former CEC, TS Krishna Murthy, who is ‘unaware’ of the episode properly, generalised that EC was entitled to transfer anyone when s/he in its view was not fit to conduct elections fairly. Meanwhile, it is known that the EC is likely to convene a meeting of the disciplinary action committee and issue a strict warning to DGP Yadav for his unprecedented and unwarranted gesture.
No comments:
Post a Comment