The directives of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court to the government to forward the list of police officers who are under the zone of consideration for conferring IPS and to the UPSC to finalise the list have come as a big relief to the police officers, including those who have retired.
The directives were passed by the Bench on a writ petition filed by two retired police officers through High Court lawyer K.R. Radhakrishnan Nair. The petitioners — Shanawas A. and M.V. Mahesh Das, retired Superintendents of Police — said in their petition that they were found suitable to be placed on the select list of 2020. However, they were not selected for want of vacancies.
They were again included on the list of suitable officers for selection and appointment to IPS Kerala cadre for vacancies that had arisen for 2021. The petitioner submitted that the UPSC had a statutory duty to convene the selection committee and approve the list. When the petitioners moved the Central Administrative Tribunal, the UPSC was granted 60 days for finalising the vacancies available for promotion of Kerala State police service officers for the year 2021. The undue delay in preparing the select list by the UPSC was causing undue hardships to the petitioners.
