Governor wrote to then CM B S Yeddyurappa recommending personal assistant's name for IPS officer cadre in May 2010; letter was cancelled in July last year, but interestingly Home Minister Ashok now pushes for appointment
Governor wrote to then CM B S Yeddyurappa recommending personal assistant's name for IPS officer cadre in May 2010; letter was cancelled in July last year, but interestingly Home Minister Ashok now pushes for appointmentu00a0
Rule makers are becoming rule breakers in the state and Governor H R Bhardwaj and the Home minister R Ashok have been caught red-handed while trying to promote their favourites to senior positions, even without the required requisites.
Bhardwaj also sent a letter to Ashok, who then went to the extent
of referring a government order to press for Mane's recommendation.
However, the order was cancelled in July 2011The Governor's desire came to light after he wrote to then Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa recommending for KC Venkata Rao Mane's name to be included in the IPS cadre in May last year, despite him not being qualified for the same.
MiD DAY has a copy of the letter, which Bhardwaj also sent to Home Minister R Ashok, who then went to the extent of referring a government order to press this recommendation ahead. However, the order was cancelled in July 2011.
Sources said that Ashok's recommendation dated November 2, 2010 to the Home department to elevate Mane was due to pressure from the Governor, which was also further strengthened by Bhardwaj himself writing to Yeddyurappa seeking that Mane's name be included.
Defaming state?Sources in the Home Department reveal that this move is against the Governor's protocol and such things have never happened in the history of the state. Mane took over as ADC after Madhukar Shetty was transferred to Lokayukta SP four years ago.
Mane was the Deputy Superintendent of Police (City Armed Reserve), an auxiliary force which is not qualified for the IPS cadre.
As per the rules, only State Police Force that represents 33 per cent of the IPS forces is eligible for such an elevation.
"Only KSPS civil cadre officers, who have completed eight years with a good track record are eligible, but Mane who became close to the Governor was trying hard to get into the IPS cadre through a backdoor entry," highly places sources revealed.
However, even after Bhardwaj's recommendation to the then CM did not yield results, he himself executed an order to include even the reserve police officers in the IPS cadre. Documents available with us indicate that the order would favour only Mane.
Made to order?The Governor laid down criteria that facilitated only Mane and clearly mentioned that the order would be applicable only for a year.
The then Director General and Inspector General of Police, Ajai Kumar Singh deferred the order stating several senior officers would be benefited due to this new rule, but the government made this order applicable only for a year to facilitate Mane's elevation.
According to Singh's letter to the home department, this would not benefit other officers. "This shows that the government order is not in public interest, but in private interest of one individual," Singh letter stated.
Bring these flaws to light, Singh had said that the government order, which was operational for the year 2009 cited that there is a shortage of eligible officers in the IPS service of the state.
However, he countered saying that the shortage was more acute in 2010, as there were 16 vacancies to be filled.
The letter also stated that if the promotion is given by implementing the flawed government order, there will be an adverse effect on the morale of the state police force and would dent the image of the police force due to favoritism. Further, the letter sought for the order to be withdrawn with immediate effect.
Due to the strong opposition coming in from every quarter, the home department finally withdrew the GO on July 21 this year. Ashok, without referring or consulting the legal department, repeated the same mistake again.
This time over, it looks like another desperate measure from the Governor's office to include Mane's name in the list of eligible officers.
"Reserve police are neither qualified nor do they have the required experience to get into the cadre. This service is applicable only to police officers (civil), who have the required eight years of experience in various divisions," said a senior officer in the home department.
