Court rejects extension of police chiefs' service

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday quashed the three-month extension of service granted to Director General of Police P.S. Pasricha and Mumbai Police commissioner D.N. Jadhav.

The division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and J.P. Deodhar held that the decision to offer extensions after retirement was wrong but stayed the order for three weeks to allow the respondents time to appeal.

The extension was granted by the Central Government on the recommendation of the state government on November 30 2007. Advocate General Ravi Kadam had earlier informing the court that the extension was granted since the officials were handling matters of great national importance, like investigations into terrorist attacks.

Personal interests

The government counsel, however, failed to convince the court that the decision was taken in the larger public interest. Terming the decision arbitrary, the court observed that such extensions and frequent transfers were usually meant to suit personal interests.

The government move had been challenged by petitioners R.R. Tripathi and Gaurang Damani. Their counsel, Y.P. Singh, had contended that the All India Service Rules provided extension only for chief secretaries of states and other serving officers only if they were on important committees that were about to submit reports or if they were involved with budget work. The extensions granted to the two officers were "inconsistent with the law," the petitioners' counsel had submitted.