Bengaluru: "Shri Prasad Abbiah, MLA, has recommended the transfer of Shri S A Veeranna Gowandar, DySP CID, to DySP Traffic Sub-division, Hubli-Dharwad... in place of Shri Badiger... hereby directed to take necessary action as per the instructions of Hon'ble Chief Minister.. " reads a missive from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's private secretary.
"Shri RK Nayak, DySP, Civil Rights Enforcement, Bijapur, is instructed to be transferred to Excise and Lottery Prohibition Cell, as per the request of Shri Satish Jharkiholi, MLA," reads yet another, signed by the CM himself.
"Dr Vijayanand Kashappanavar, MLA Hungund, has requested for transfer of SM Olekar, DySP Intelligence, to DCRB, Bagalkot... instructed to take necessary action on the representation of the Hon'ble MLA," is an extract from a third letter — considering the wishes of an MLA who was accused of assaulting two constables in a nightclub last year.
And it was not about appeasing his party men. Letters like these, from the CM's private secretary suggest that even the Opposition MLAs have a say in officers being posted to their constituencies.
Another MLC stopped the transfer of a police inspector and ensured he was retained in a posting of his choice. An MLA, who had earlier been a public works contractor in Bengaluru, and faced serious allegations of carrying out sub-standard work that killed a teenager a few years ago, also had his way in transferring a DySP from Haveri to Bengaluru.
Some RTI documents that have been filed as part of a writ petition in the Supreme Court, reveal a shocking spate of police transfers that seemingly have less to do with any police officer's crime-cracking skills than his proximity to a local MLA, raising questions on whether such postings are really about policing or have a political agenda.
These letters mostly emerge directly from the Chief Minister's office and are addressed to the Home Secretary or the DG & IGP. The law — the Karnataka Police Act in this case, as amended in 2012 — states that a separate body called the Police Establishment Board, headed by the DG & IGP, will have the final say on transfers, postings, promotions and service-related matters of all officers of and below the rank of a DySP.
"There are over 100 such cases we know of, beginning 2010. We feel this is why police are harassed, because politicians interfere in matters of transfer," advocate G R Mohan, the petitioner in this case, said. He made it clear it's not just about the current Congress regime; the previous BJP regime too had its share of 'favoured' policemen.
"If there is an honest officer working somewhere, and the MLA doesn't like it, he will get him transferred," Mohan said.
Defending the practice, Home Minister G Parameshwara said political recommendations are not necessarily a diktat. "An MLA or MP giving a letter of transfer is not new, it has been going on. That is the reason the Supreme Court earlier intervened and directed all States to have a Police Establishment Board. The Board looks into each case. Just an MLA giving a letter doesn't mean he has to be transferred," he told CNN News18 in an interview.
"Each officer, they will consider. Whether he is eligible or not, how well he/she has done in the previous posting. They (MLAs) may write, but that is not the only prerequisite for a posting. The Board will definitely take note of it but there are other considerations — their service, their specializations — some officer may be specialized in cracking certain types of crimes; they will be posted in areas where such crimes are larger in number," Parameshwara said.
So what then, drives police officers to take their own lives? Two DySPs and one head constable have committed suicide in the past month. One of them gave out televised interviews, talking of interference by two seniors and a Minister, before checking into a hotel and hanging himself.
A woman SI tried to overdose on paracetamol tablets, after an argument with the Inspector.
"Her suicide attempt has nothing to do with the department; it was some confusion about some mobile phone being passed on," the Home Minister said. The SI had had an argument with her SHO, who has since been transferred, about a seized phone.
"Our prayer is for a special investigation team to look into violation of the Supreme Court's orders on this issue, and the alleged misconduct by the government," Mohan said.
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