The center has rejected the proposal of the state government to temporarily create two DGP posts and elevate the two ADGPs from the batch of 1989, who already are eligible for the promotion to the rank of DGPs. Although it is yet to be stated why the state asked the Centre for permission since it is empowered to create the temporary posts for a maximum of two years without seeking approval.
The state has decided to create two temporary posts of DGPs to promote ADGPs; K Padmakumar and S Anantha Krishnan, who are both from the 1989 batch, and elevate them to the post of DGPs. The decision was made after state police chief Anil Kant (IPS: 1988: KL) who was originally supposed to retire from the service on January 31, 2022, got his tenure extended by a year and 5 months to give him a full 2 years of tenure as the state police chief as per the supreme court’s verdict. Had Anil Kant been retired already, S Ananthakrishnan would have been promoted to the rank of DGP and when vigilance director K Sudesh Kumar retires on October 31 of this year, K Padmakumar would have been elevated to the rank of DGP. In many states, officers who have completed 30 years in the service have been elevated to the post of DGPs.
Since the promotions of the two officers were getting delayed due to extended service to the state police chief, the government had decided to create two temporary posts of the DGP to accommodate the duo. The state had then written to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking permission for the same.
A senior official said, “It is not known by a clearance was shot even though the rules permit the state government to create two temporary posts without the clearance from the Centre. Now that the center has denied permission it would not be possible to create those posts.”
Such temporary posts have been created by the state government in the past for the IAS as well as IPS services when the vacancies for accommodating officers who are eligible for promotion were not present.
