Notification put on hold; DSPs won''t be moved out of Chandigarh

Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 17

Under pressure from the Punjab government and also from their alliance partner SAD, the Centre on Wednesday announced keeping “in abeyance till further orders” the September 25 notification of amalgamating cadre for non-IPS police officers in six Union Territories (UTs), including Chandigarh.

In a fresh order, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “The notification, dated September 25, merging the posts of DSPs of Chandigarh Police with DANIPS has been kept in abeyance till further orders.”

Following the notification, both the ruling Congress in Punjab and the NDA’s ally SAD had objected to the move claiming it would turn Chandigarh a perpetual UT and thus would remain outside the ambit of Punjab and Haryana, as officers would be appointed by the Centre.

The National Capital Territory of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Chandigarh (Police Service) Rules 2018 was notified with an aim to create a central police cadre allowing for the posting of police personnel across the country irrespective of the force they are initially inducted into.

“A central pool allowing inter-transferability would also ensure that local police personnel do not fall prey to serving vested interests in their home services and ensure that they don’t become complacent,” a senior MHA official had then said.

However, the decision had turned into a big controversy in Chandigarh, the seat of power of two states–Punjab and Haryana--with Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu claiming that the Centre’s notification had shaken the foundation and purpose of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, and the Rajiv-Longowal Accord.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, he had said that in view of the notification, posts in Chandigarh would remain outside the ambit of Punjab and Haryana and would be filled by the Centre.

Even Union Minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to intervene, as the notification was “violation” of the decisions and assurances on the appointment of officials in Chandigarh.