Chief Minister, Home Minister at loggerheads

B S Yeddyurappa and R Ashok do not see eye to eye on candidate list for police transfers, though Police Establishment Board, as per Supreme Court guidelines, disallows political intervention in such matters
u00a0
The police transfers and the Police Establishment Board (PEB) meeting held on Wednesday to decide on the list of candidates was reportedly inconclusive, as Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Home Minister R Ashok are at loggerheads over the same.

While R Ashok reportedly wanted H N S Rao to replace him as Transport Commissioner, Yeddyurappa had posted his loyalist Sham Bhat for the same

The PEB was established in 2010 as per the SC guidelines to keep recruitment, placement, promotion and transfers free from political intervention.

The board chaired by the Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) is authorised to decide on transfers up to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP).

While its board's job to ensure that political influence on transfers remains at bay, it was faced with 63 letters of recommendation from the CM, while 64 DySPs were to be transferred. Besides, out of these 63, no one was figured in the list proposed by the Home Minister.

No other option
After learning about the CM's list, Ashok called up DG&IG S T Ramesh, to express his displeasure. This left the chairmen and members of the board with no option, but to postpone the meeting without finalising the transfers list.

According to a source, Ashok bluntly ordered the DG&IG to stop the proceedings until he cleared the transfer list. He was heard saying, "Don't you know I am the Home Minister. The CM has no business interfering in this matter."

Ramesh seeking to clear the air, said, "To set the records straight, the meeting was not inconclusive. We finalised the transfers list of sub-inspectors and the remaining matters are to be looked into."

H said that he would fix the next meeting to decide on transfers of police inspectors and DySPs in a day or two.

Using clout
It is said the board finalised transfers list of 70 police sub-inspectors and many were politically influenced. While the majority of the recommendations came from the chief minister's house, some BJP MLAs also pushed their candidates.

"The purpose of establishing the PEB has failed since political intervention is unabated. I am thinking of moving the court against these transfers after obtaining information under Right to Information Act," said J S D Pani, an RTI activist following the issue right from the PEB was established.

While police transfers are lucrative for the politicians, it is the known fact that B Y Vijendra, the CM's son, is calling the shots and the Home Minister is just a dummy. This was the case when Dr V S Acharya was Home Minister and it continued after Ashok replaced him last year.

Thou shall not
Making money by means of police transfers was included among the corruption charges against the CM and his family members.

Ajayakumar Singh, Ramesh's predecessor had gone on long leave last year to protest against the intervention of Yeddyurappa and his family in the police transfers, when Vijendra tried to arm-twist the PEB.

"It is not true that I and the CM have differences regarding police transfers. The PEB met and decided on the transfers of sub-inspectors and it will meet again in the next month to finalise the list of DySPs," said Ashok.
Despite repeated attempts, Yeddyurappa was unavailable for comment.

Tripped up
Ashok, who is also Transport Minister, is cribbing over the transfer of the Transport Commissioner.

Bhaskar Rao was transferred earlier this month, and Ashok reportedly wanted H N S Rao to replace him as Transport Commissioner.

However, Yeddyurappa had posted his loyalist Sham Bhat, who is also CEO of Karnataka Industrial Area Board, as the Transport Commissioner before he left for Dubai with close friend and minister Shobha Karandlaje.

'Not without me'
It is mandatory that PEB, headed by the Director-General and Inspector General of Police as chairperson and the Director-General of Police (Corps of Detectives) and the Director-General of Police (Recruitment and Training) as members, meet once a month to discuss issues, including welfare of the police personnel.

Ashok, who didn't know much about the board, had ordered for the cancellation of the fist monthly-meeting after he became Home Minister last year, thinking that the board was meant only for police transfers.

"How can they decide on the transfers without my knowledge. The PEB cannot meet without my consent," he had thunderedu00a0

However, he regretted his ignorance after learning that the PEB need not take his permission to meet and it was not only meant for the transfers.