UP police officer writes to centre against arbitrary transfers

A senior Uttar Pradesh Police officer has written to the union cabinet secretary, seeking to make public the recommendations of the Civil Services Board constituted for the transfer of Indian administrative, police and foreign service officers.

In his letter, IPS officer Amitabh Thakur has cited the recent transfers of Uttar Pradesh's Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani and Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar Gupta, and said that after the 2014 amendments in cadre rules, these officers can be transferred only after a period of two years on the recommendations of the Civil Services Board.

Alleging that these officials and many others are being transferred at the whims of the political establishment, Thakur said any transfer before the two years' tenure can be done under special circumstances and only on the board's recommendations.

He said it was not enough to cite "public interest" as the reason for such transfers.

"I have also requested in the interest of accountability and transparency in governance that the recommendations of the Civil Services Board be made public so that even common people know why and under what circumstances an officer was transferred," Thakur told IANS.