Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal set aside Thane police commissioner's orderu00a0saying that it violates the state act regulating transfers of government servants

IN a move that will cause further discomfiture to Home Minister R R Patil, the Maharashtra Administration Tribunal (MAT) has cancelled the transfer of 106 allegedly corrupt policemen from Thane.



Patil had earlier expressed his unhappiness at the overruling of the transfer of a police inspector who was caught with drugs (see box).

On November 20, the then Thane Police Commissioner, S P S Yadav, had transferred 106 policemen, all below constable rank.

Sources said Yadav suspected that these policemen were part of a bribery racket involving several of their superiors.
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They were allegedly not assigned any work so that they could serve as bribe collectors for senior police inspectors, ACPs and DCPs.

As punishment postings, those working with the Thane Police were transferred to the traffic police department and vice-versa.

A total of 31 cops, however, hired noted lawyer Arvind Bandiwadekar and challenged their transfer order in the MAT.

Bandiwadekar studied the Maharashtra Government Servants Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005, and found several things wrong with the transfer, which he presented before the tribunal.

The MAT ruled that the transfers were mid-tenure and mid-term, in violation of various provisions of the Act.
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It also questioned the validity of an April 30, 2007 notification giving powers to transfer constables to the divisional SPs and zonal DCPs as it was never published in the government gazette.

Honorable Judge R B Budhiraja passed an order (copy available with MiD DAY) that said, "Without going into the merits of the case, it is necessary to decide the preliminary objections raised about the validity of the notification dated April 30, 2007."

"In view of the judge's remarks, the impugned orders will have to be quashed and set aside.

While publishing a fresh notification in the official gazette, the government would well be advised to examine and meet the other objections regarding the commissioner of police being only a regional head competent to transfer only Group D employees under Section 6," said Bandiwadekar.

RR Patil's take
In a meeting at Solapur, the home minister had said, "There is an urgent need to ensure that police officials allegedly involved in crimes do not get relief from tribunals or courts." Citing the example of Police Inspector Ashok Davde, who was nabbed with drugs and charged with carrying liquor without permit in the past, Patil said he was re-instated after directives from the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT).