The Centre has compulsorily retired two IPS officers of Chhattisgarh cadre – AM Juri and KC Agarwal – “in public interest” on charges of being inefficient, sending message to officials to either perform or perish.
This is the second instance in recent months when the home ministry has acted tough against Indian Police Service (IPS) officers for inefficient performance or doubtful integrity, sending them on premature retirement.
More than 130 officers have been given premature retirement in the past over two years, Union minister Jitendra Singh told Rajya Sabha in a written reply last month.
Service records of 11,828 Group ‘A’ and 19,714 Group ‘B’ officers have been reviewed so far, he added.
“I have received the government’s order and going through it,” Juri told Hindustan Times over phone. The other IPS officer KC Agarwal could not be reached for his reaction despite several attempts.
Juri is currently posted as assistant inspector general (planning and provisioning), while Agarwal was with police telecommunication department.
The action has been taken under All India Service Rule 16(3) that says the central government in consultation with the state government concerned can retire an officer of the service in public interest after serving them notice.
{{/usCountry}}The action has been taken under All India Service Rule 16(3) that says the central government in consultation with the state government concerned can retire an officer of the service in public interest after serving them notice.
{{/usCountry}}“The officers have been served notice. This should not be construed as punishment” said a home ministry official in Delhi on the condition of anonymity.
The officer added that the Centre reviews the performance of the three All India Services officers, namely the IPS, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) at two stages – on completion of 15 and 25 years of service.
In January, the home ministry acted against two other IPS officers-- Raj Kumar Dewangan from the 1992 batch of Chhattisgarh cadre and Mayank Sheel Chohan from the 1998 batch of the AGMU (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre—serving them notices of compulsory retirement.
Juri was scheduled to retire in 2019 and Agrawal was slated for retirement in 2020.
Juri and Agrawal were promoted to the IPS from state police in 2011 and were allotted 2000 and 2002 batch respectively.
Juri was earlier posted as SP Balod and SP Baloda bazaar and was for last few years attached to various departments in police headquarters at Raipur.
Agarwal, on the other hand, was SP Jashpur, SP Rail and then shifted to telecommunication department of the Chhattisgarh police.