NT Reporter Panaji
Goa police department has demoted six police inspectors (PIs), who have criminal cases pending against them, to the post of police sub-inspector (PSI).
Police officers Sandhya Gupta, Terrance Vaz, Rahul Dhamsekar, Sushant Gawas, Vilesh Dhurbhatkar and Sunil Gudlar have been demoted in an order issued on January 19.
The order comes consequent to a judgment of the High Court of Bombay at Goa in connection with a writ petition pertaining to the promotion of the PSIs to PI post.
A senior police officer said that following the judgment, the Police Establishment Board (PEB) reviewed the matter as per the existing guidelines/rules of all the PIs, who were promoted on officiating or ad-hoc basis despite criminal cases pending against them.
The writ petition was filed by PSI Anand Narvekar in the High Court of Bombay at Goa last year. The matter pertained to non-consideration for a promotional post merely on the ground that a criminal case was pending against him.
Narvekar had cited an order dated June 30, 2022, passed by Director General of Police promoting four PSIs to the post of PI.
The order dated June 30, 2022, had specifically stipulated a clause that the promotions were subject to the final outcome of the criminal cases registered against the PSIs and if they were convicted then they would be reverted to their lower posts, the petition stated.
“Such an approach of promoting during the pendency of the criminal proceeding, that too in the police force, is not appreciated,” Goa police have quoted the order of the court in its demotion order.
As per the police order, the court had directed to open the sealed envelope in connection with Narvekar’s case and further stated that if Narvekar was recommended to be promoted to the post of PI, irrespective of the fact that a criminal case was pending against him, he shall be issued an order of promotion to the post of PI on officiating basis on par with other PSIs who were promoted despite criminal cases pending against them.
As per the order of the Goa police department, the six PSIs against whom criminal cases were pending were promoted to the post of PI on officiating/ad-hoc basis, subject to the final outcome of the criminal cases citing various terms and conditions in their promotion order.
“Also in their promotion order it was mentioned that the promotion shall be ‘until further order’. The police department reserves the right to cancel at any time the ad-hoc/officiating promotion and revert them to the post from which they are promoted,” states the Goa police order.
