IMPORTANT POINTS
Removal or displacement or transfer out of an officer from a sensitive tenure post requires serious consideration and good reasons that can be tested so that the officer is not dealt with as a pawn in a game.
Removal of a State Police Chief before completion of tenure cannot be made in a routine manner but only if there is serious public dissatisfaction about the efficiency of the police. Removal must be for compelling reason and based on verifiable material and not a perception.
Enjoying the confidence of the Chief Minister or “complete rapport and understanding” between the State Police Chief and the Chief Minister not a criteria for removal of State Police Chief.

JUDGMENT

Madan B. Lokur, J.

1. The appellant –

Dr. T.P. Senkumar -is said to be an outstanding officer in the Indian Police Service and in view of his meritorious record and service, he was appointed as the Director General of Police & Head of Police Force (the State Police Chief) in terms of Section 18 of The Kerala Police Act, 2011 (for short “the Act”) on 22nd May, 2015.

2. Section 97 of the Act mandates that the State Government shall ensure a minimum tenure of two years for the State Police Chief. However, the State Police Chief could be transferred out before completion of the tenure if the State Government is prima facie satisfied that it is necessary to do so, on certain grounds specified in sub-section (2) of Section 97 of the Act. We are concerned with clause (e) thereof relating to causing “serious dissatisfaction in the general public about efficiency of police in his jurisdiction.”

3. Ordinarily therefore, the appellant’s tenure as State Police Chief should have continued till 21st May, 2017 and even thereafter till his superannuation sometime in June, 2017. However, the tenure was cut short and he was transferred out as Chairman and Managing Director of the Kerala Police Housing and Construction Corporation Ltd. on State deputation basis by an order dated 1st June, 2016.

4. The appellant challenged his displacement by filing a petition in the Central Administrative Tribunal, which was dismissed. He then preferred a writ petition in the Kerala High Court challenging the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal. The Division Bench hearing the writ petition dismissed it by the impugned judgment and order dated 25th January, 2017. It is under these circumstances that the appellant is now before us.

5. The question for our consideration is whether the appellant’s displacement from the post of State Police Chief in Kerala before the expiry of his tenure of two years was justified in law. In our opinion, the answer is in the negative. The removal or displacement or transfer out of an officer from a sensitive tenure post requires serious consideration and good reasons that can be tested so that the officer is not dealt with as a pawn in a game. Unfortunately, the somewhat exacting standards are absent in the present case and the appellant was displaced from the post of State Police Chief summarily and without reasonable cause.

Prakash Singh’s case

6. Before detailing the controversy before us it is necessary to refer to the decision of this Court in Prakash Singh & Ors. v. Union of India and Ors, (2006) 8 SCC 1. In that case, this Court dealt with the issue of police reforms in the context of the far-reaching changes that had taken place in the country after the enactment of the Indian Police Act, 1861. It was noted that no comprehensive review had been undertaken in this regard at the national level and therefore, the Government of India appointed a National Police Commission on 15th November, 1977 which recommended significant police reforms. It was also noted that subsequently, there were other half a dozen reports on the same or similar subject but no substantive reforms were brought about.

7. In the course of its judgment, this Court referred to a research paper titled “Political and Administrative Manipulation of the Police” published in 1979 by the Bureau of Police Research and Development. The research paper contained a caution to the effect that excessive control by the political executive and its principal advisers over the police had the inherent danger of making the police a tool for subverting the process of law, promoting the growth of authoritarianism and shaking the very foundations of democracy. We may add that one of the findings in the research paper is “The present predicament of Police is that they have been exposed to a two pronged pressure vertically from the Administration and laterally from the politicians.” [Research Studies on Police and Prison Issues (1970-2009) [Compendium] published by th