Delhi Police to stop assigning functional ranks

In 2022, the police came up with an order to confer functional ranks to cope with emergent operational requirements and for government work. This was followed by the CAT asking the police to “clarify” the rules

Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora released an order stating that functional ranks of assistant commissioner of police (ACP) conferred to police inspectors will no longer be assigned to any official in the force, months after the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) asked Arora to re-examine the procedure.

Functional ranks were conferred for operational purposes. (HT Archive)

In August 2023, two Delhi police inspectors approached the tribunal stating that they were appointed sub-inspectors in 1996 and received a promotion in 2015-16, but were not promoted to ACP ranks even as “similarly placed” officers from their batch were.

In 2022, the police came up with an order to confer functional ranks to cope with emergent operational requirements and for government work. This was followed by the CAT asking the police to “clarify” the rules of functional rank.

In the order, dated Monday, it is stated that the MHA also “raised certain queries” about the functional rank mechanism and subsequently, found that the system was not in “conformity” with the rules.

Police, in the order, said the grant of functional ranks has been dispensed with across all ranks.