The Hindu: Thiruvananthapuram: Sunday, February 11, 2018.
The Central
government’s reply to a right to information (RTI) query has given rise to
questions about a possible conflict of interest between Loknath Behera’s
simultaneous roles as State Police Chief (SPC) and director, Vigilance and
Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).
D. B. Binu,
an RTI activist and lawyer based in Kochi, said he had asked whether the Kerala
government had sought the permission of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
(Department of Personnel and Training) to appoint Mr Behera as head of the
VACB. He had posed the question against the backdrop of All India Service rules
that prohibited an officer from holding more than one cadre post
contemporaneously.
If the State
government was of the opinion that it was necessary to do so, it was bound to
seek the sanction of the Centre. Moreover, any such appointment should be for
six months and not for more than 12 months.
The Centre
replied the “subject matter of the transfer and posting of IPS officers falls
within the purview of the State governments concerned. The Government of Kerala
has not sought permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs for the appointment
of Loknath Behera as director, VACB”.
Mr Binu
contention was that Mr Behera’s job as SPC was ethically incompatible with his
responsibilities as head of the State’s premier anti-enforcement agency, which
routinely processes complaints about police corruption.
Home
Department officials said appointments to cadre posts were the sole prerogative
of the State government. Mr Behera had replaced Jacob Thomas as VACB chief in
March 2017. Only 11 months have elapsed since he assumed charge. The government
has time to take a proper decision on the matter. There was no shortage of
ranking officers in Kerala cadre. Mr. Behera was not available for comment.
The
controversy has erupted at a time when the VACB has come under fire from court
for allegedly dragging its feet on politically sensitive investigations,
chiefly the ones against former Finance Minister K. M. Mani and former Excise
Minister and Congress leader K. Babu.
The
Opposition had also criticised the agency for retracting its allegations
against former Industries Minister E. P. Jayarajan after registering an FIR
against him on the charge of nepotism. The VACB recently quashed complaints
against two Ministers and several top-ranking bureaucrats on the ground that
they had revealed no offence under the Prevention of Corruption, Act.
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