| |
THE NATION: CENTRE-STATE
RELATIONS
The Centre Cannot Hold
Prodded by DMK to recall three IPS officers the NDA Government
is dragged into a constitutional debate
By Kavitha Muralidharan
|
|
|
|
CAPITAL CALL: (From top) Nelson, Muthukaruppan
and George will serve in Delhi |
The well-heeled
members of the IAS and IPS may be inheritors of the steel frame of the
colonial administration, but, governed for half a century by the All India
Services Act, 1951, in a polity which is increasingly fragmented, they
indeed serve two masters-the Union Government and the authority of the
state to which they're anchored. On paper, the Centre is the boss of all
cadre officers and is free to summon them to its direct command from all
outposts, no matter how hostile or protective their regional satraps are.
But it is easier said than done.
Nothing exposed this limitation to the Centre's
authority over its star civil servants than the recent uproar over its
decision to call back, or "requisition", three IPS officers
from Tamil Nadu. They are: Chennai Police Commissioner K. Muthukaruppan,
Joint Commissioner S. George and Deputy Commissioner Christopher Nelson.
It is alleged that the trio were involved in the late-night assault on
M. Karunanidhi, prompted by Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, at the DMK
chief's Oliver Road residence in Chennai on June 30. The Privileges Committee
of the Lok Sabha also issued notice to the police officers to appear before
it in Parliament.
Muthukaruppan, who took over after Jayalalitha's
appointment as chief minister, is allegedly the brain behind the surprise
arrest of Karunanidhi. The other two have been accused of "manhandling"
Karunanidhi and roughing up his supporters, Union ministers Murasoli Maran
and T.R. Baalu. In his bid to show loyalty to Amma, Muthukaruppan even
wrote to Sun TV, ordering it to stop the repeated telecasts of the arrest
episode.
|
|
|
|
SHEER FORCE: Karunanidhi being arrested
|
|
Soon after the incident, the Union Government
had given a directive to the state Government to take action against the
police officers. So the requisitioning order was arguably interpreted
in Fort St George as retaliatory. For Jayalalitha, however-driven to political
isolation because of her vindictive strike at Karunanidhi-the Central
order recalling the IPS officers to Delhi offered a new opportunity to
reach out to the anti-NDA opposition parties. Last week, within days of
the order being issued, she wrote to all chief ministers seeking their
support to protect the rights of the states. The letter highlighted the
"disturbing trend" in the management of the state cadres of
all-India services and requested the chief ministers to write to the Centre
on the new threat to federalism.
However condemnable Jayalalitha's revanchist
raid on Karunanidhi might be, the Centre's reaction in recalling the officers
is odd as it touches on the delicate issue of division of power with the
states. The Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954-in exercise of the
powers conferred by the All India Services Act, 1951-lay down in Rule
6 that a cadre officer may be deputed for service under the Central government
but that will be "with the concurrence of the state government concerned".
The rule, however, has a proviso which says that "in case of any
disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central government".
The Centre, under pressure from the DMK, an
important NDA partner, obviously took refuge in the proviso, calculating
perhaps that its authority would supersede that of the state Government
in case the latter decided to put its foot down. Much to its surprise,
Jayalalitha not only brushed the request aside but turned it into a subject
for a political propaganda blitzkrieg. "A reply to the Central Government
will be sent soon," she remarked with characteristic imperiousness
after shooting off letters to other chief ministers.
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
