Latest news with #InterestLitigation
Indian Express
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
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.
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Phasing out petrol, diesel vehicles from Mumbai will have cascading effect on economy: Govt to HC
The Maharashtra government on Monday told the Bombay High Court that phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles from the city would have a 'cascading effect' on a large number of people and the country's economy. The government said that an expert panel formed will require more time to submit a report on whether it will be feasible to phase out diesel and petrol-based vehicles from the roads of Mumbai and permit only those that run on CNG and electronic charge. The government informed a division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Makarand S Karnik that the five meetings of the committee, formed on January 21, have already been conducted and it is in process to gather requisite information from stakeholders and other affected parties. The government filed an affidavit filed through the Joint Transport Commissioner in response to suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) raising concerns over 'alarming' air pollution levels in Mumbai and surrounding areas, 'This policy will have a cascading effect on huge section of population and also economy of the country and hence, a detailed, in depth, exhaustive and extensive study will be required to be done which is time consuming and hence the said committee will require a longer time frame for arriving at its conclusive study,' the affidavit stated. On January 9, the HC had directed the formation of the committee consisting of experts, civil administrators, and those associated with the administration of traffic management to conduct the study within three months and submit a report to the court. The affidavit said that at present, the committee cannot give an outer limit for completion of the study but the same will be done in an expeditious manner. Meanwhile, Samadhan Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Mumbai in an affidavit in reply stated that a panel headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) has studied the traffic congestion on Western Express Highway (WEH) and identified congestion sites and suggested temporary and permanent measures to deal with the same. The affidavit stated that on WEH and Eastern Express Highway, total 93 places with traffic congestion have been identified and officer of senior police inspector/police inspector has been appointed as nodal officer at each such place to ensure there is no traffic congestion and to take required measures to control pollution with the help of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) officials. The HC will hear the matter next on April 29.
