Vij again crosses swords with Khattar
Haryana home minister Anil Vij is yet again at loggerheads with chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
After the CM backed the decision to grant extension in tenure to director general of police (DGP) Manoj Yadava, Vij has shot off two notes – one to Khattar and the second to additional chief secretary (ACS), home, criticising the DGP and seeking his removal.
Vij had last week triggered controversy by writing to ACS, home, to send a panel of officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to be considered for the next DGP despite the fact that Yadava has over four years of service left.
Subsequently, Khattar had put an end to the controversy by stating that since Yadava has already been given an extension, he can continue as head of the state police force till his retirement. As per the Rules of Business, the authority to appoint or transfer IPS officials is vested with the CM.
“The Union home ministry’s orders on grant of extension of tenure for one more year to Yadava is a mere formality for maintaining continuity of hardcore Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers repatriated to the state,’’ said a top official echoing the CM’s viewpoint.
“The tenure policy states that hardcore officers of the IB can be deputed to serve with state governments for a period not exceeding three years. There are end number of instances when IPS officers on inter cadre deputations or repatriated from the Centre have been given extensions beyond the stipulated period by relaxing the rules,” the official added.
Officials said that post-retirement extensions in service given to former Haryana DGP, BS Sandhu, his then Punjab counterpart, Suresh Arora and the then Maharashtra DGP DD Padsalgikar were given extension by the central government after relaxing Section 16 (1) of the All India Service (death cum retirement benefit) Rules. The extension orders of the three DGPs said that they were being given extension in public interest.
Vij, it seems, has not given up. In a March 2 note to the CM, Vij said that the DGP should be removed as law and order situation cannot be kept under control till he is head of the police force.
The minister also blamed the DGP for mismanaging the farmers’ agitation. In a second communication sent to ACS, home, on Wednesday, Vij has asked him to seek a written explanation from the DGP on why staff, vehicles, and funds have not been provided to the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau to make it functional and why the DGP is not taking any interest in making it work.