Centre writes again on police officer's transfer

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, AUG. 13. The Union Home Ministry today once again asked the Tamil Nadu Government to make available the services of Mr. R. Rajagopalan, for use at the Centre as Director General of the National Security Guards.

A Ministry communication rejected the State Government's plea that Mr. Rajagopalan could not be spared since he was holding a crucial post; instead, the Ministry reminded the State Government that Mr. Rajagopalan's services were needed for the much more essential assignment.

This communication has gone to Chennai after a day of feverish consultations between the Union Home Ministry and the Union Law Ministry over what the NDA Government could do that would be reassuring to its ally, DMK in its latest confrontation with the Jayalalithaa regime in Tamil Nadu.

First, the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee spoke to the former Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, and wanted to know about the nature of violence that took place during the DMK rally in Chennai on Sunday. Sources described it as a courtesy call, and the Prime Minister reportedly did not say or commit himself to any Central intervention.

Later, the DMK MPs `met' the Prime Minister in Parliament House while Mr. Vajpayee was crossing over to the Rajya Sabha. The DMK MPs told him about the police high- handedness, and one of them even showed Mr. Vajpayee the bruises he had suffered during the `police attack' on the rally. All these MPs got was a patient hearing.

Still later in the evening, a delegation of the DMK MPs called on the Prime Minister, and this time they were armed with a formal memorandum, demanding that the Centre fulfil its Constitutional obligation to provide fundamental rights to citizens in Tamil Nadu.

In concrete terms, the DMK demanded that a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to (a) ``go into the police excesses of sabotaging the basic human rights; (b) to look into the ill-treatment meted out to Mr. Karunanidhi and his family on June 30 as well as ``to put an end to the jungle raj'' in Tamil Nadu;(c) to inquire into the assault on two Union Ministers;(d) attack on Mr. Vetriselvan, a sitting member of Parliament;(e) as well as the assault on the mediapersons since June 2001; and,(f) ``suspend with immediate effect the police officials including the DIG, COP Chennai and other officers who were guilty of high- handedness on June 29-30''.

However, while there was little the NDA could say in the matter how a State Government should handle law and order, the Home Ministry was reportedly ready to send one more communication to the Tamil Nadu Government, demanding early compliance with its demand that the services of the three controversial IPS officers.

Law Ministry officials are believed to have already vetted the proposed demarche, and it is awaiting the final clearance of the Home Minister, Mr. Advani. The DMK memorandum, itself, notes that in this connection the Centre could invoke Article 311, along with Rule 7(1-B) of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969.

The Centre feels it has a right to demand the services of the three IPS officers from Tamil Nadu, because even though these officers have appealed to the Central Administrative Tribunal, the panel has not issued any notice.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : Security blanket over Srinagar
Next     : Governor reviews situation, to send report