Appointing HPPS officers on IPS cadre posts violation of rules: Himachal HC
Suggesting a series of reforms to the state police, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has raised serious concerns over the appointment of Himachal Pradesh Police Service (HPPS) officers to Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre posts to the rank of superintendents of police (SPs), terming such appointments by the state government 'violations of the IPS Cadre Rules'.
A division bench of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja observed on Monday, hearing a 2024 Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking police reforms in the state.
According to the detailed order made available on Wednesday, the bench observed, 'Presently, some HPS officers are posted on cadre (IPS) posts, most specifically SP Sirmour and SP Baddi. The posts of SP Sirmour and SP Baddi are IPS Cadre posts as per the IPS Civil List issued by the state government for the year 2024. The Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules 8 and 9 clearly state that cadre posts are to be filled by cadre officers. In this regard, the IPS (Cadre) Rules, along with the judgment of the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in the case of Lagesh Dewan vs. State of Kerala, decided on August 23, 2002, make it clear that IPS cadre posts must be occupied by IPS officers only. The state government is, therefore, in violation of these rules.'
The post of Baddi SP was previously held by Ilma Afroz, an IPS officer of the 2018 batch who went on leave last year following differences with local Congress MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary. Subsequently, the state government appointed HPPS officer ASP Rajesh Dhiman as the Baddi SP. Likewise, Nischint Negi, another HPPS officer, was posted as the Sirmour SP after SP Raman Meena, a 2011-batch IPS officer, was transferred to a central deputation in January.
The bench also discussed the possibility of implementing a 2018 judgment by the Uttarakhand High Court in Arun Kumar Bhadoria vs. State of Uttarakhand & Others, which issued 14 comprehensive directives aimed at improving police welfare and service conditions. These included introducing eight-hour duty shifts, granting 45 days' extra salary to compensate for the strenuous nature of police work, and creating a dedicated welfare corpus.
'The Uttarakhand High Court judgment was designed to enhance the service conditions, welfare and efficiency of the police force. The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has now taken note of these directives and directed that, as far as practicable, they be implemented in Himachal Pradesh as well,' the bench directed.
The court instructed the state police to submit a compliance report by the next hearing on June 3.
Other suggested reforms included the constitution of highway patrol units under each District SP to handle traffic enforcement, accident response and road safety; ERSS 112 Enhancements — while states like Haryana have expanded their Emergency Response Support Systems with hundreds of vehicles and new control rooms, Himachal continues with one ERSS vehicle per district; Police Housing and Infrastructure — wherein most police quarters and offices need urgent renovation as better housing is crucial for seamless inter-district transfers and improved morale; Mobile Forensic Labs — as with delays in forensic reporting hindering justice, mobile forensic science labs are needed in each district. Current FSL units in Shimla, Dharamshala, and Mandi are inadequately staffed.
The division bench also suggested the establishment of Special Courts for NDPS Crimes along with an Intelligence Division Overhaul.
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