Senior cop crunch in Assam before polls

File picture of policemen at an October 30 blast site Guwahati, Feb 9 : A shortage of superintendents of police-level officers is hampering the police department’s plans to ensure a smooth parliamentary election and sustain its ongoing war on terror. According to sources, it has requested for heavy security arrangements during the forthcoming general election because it does not want to lower its guard against terrorists who have caused immense damage to lives and property since the October 30 serial blasts. “If you seek more forces, then you also need senior and experienced officers to handle and guide them and this is where we are facing a problem,” a source said today. There are as many as 18 posts of SPs/commandants to be filled up. These vacant posts of SPs and commandants cannot be filled up because of a Gahuati High Court case wherein the 1995 regular batch of Assam Police Service (APS) officers had challenged the seniority of the 1993 special batch of APS officers citing a 2004 court order which observed that the latter had no right to continue in service as their appointments were clouded by largescale violation of recruitment rules. Though the case, filed in January 2008, is yet to come up for hearing, the court has barred the promotion of the special batch officers without the leave of the court. In the intervening period, however, a division bench of the high court in a 2002 case involving the 1993 regular batch and the special batch upheld the seniority of the former but “apparently” did not interfere with the appointment of the 1993 special batch. The division bench had observed that “no fault, deficiency or blemish in their service has been alleged against them (1993 special batch).” Armed with the division bench observation that did not say anything apparently adverse about the appointment of the 1993 special batch, Dispur has requested its legal team to seek the permission of the court to allow the government to promote them to the level of SPs as it has become “extremely urgent” in view of the prevailing situation in the state. “We are hopeful of an early resolution to the case,” an official said when asked about the status of its appeal as the matter is sub-judice.