Centre asks JK, AP, WB to set up CBI courts

The Centre today asked the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal to take steps in making special CBI courts functional as early as possible.
"The state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal have been requested to take effective steps in making special CBI courts functional as early as possible," a communique said.
The issue was discussed during a meeting of principal secretaries of general administration or personnel departments of state governments and union territories today.
A special CBI court each in Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and three in West Bengal have not yet become functional, the action report of the meeting stated.

The Ministry of Personnel had in May also sought details from state governments on officers transferred by them before completion of minimum prescribed tenure.
The state governments were also asked details of constitution of Civil Services Board (CSB), that were advised to be formed following a Supreme Court judgement, to decide on posting and transfers of civil servants.

"The quarterly report of CSB has been received from the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Daman and Diu and UP," the report said.
As per rules, the CSB shall submit a quarterly report in the prescribed form to the central government clearly stating the details of officers recommended to be transferred before the minimum prescribed tenure, along with the reasons for the same.

The stability of the all India services--Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS)--officers, especially in the states, has been a matter of concern for a long time.
Frequent and arbitrary transfers of officers before completion of a reasonable tenure for any post have always been considered as a major reason behind declining standards of the administration, the Personnel Ministry had earlier said.
IAS officers like Ashok Khemka, Durga Sakthi Nagpal and Kuldip Narayan, among others, have allegedly been victims of arbitrary suspensions and transfers by different state governments.