In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the government to conduct a cadre review, which was due in 2021, of all the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) within six months, and ensure filling up of posts by promotions instead of deputation. It also said that stagnation of promotions can adversely impact the morale of the CAPFs.

“Keeping in mind the twin objectives of service mobility of the cadre officers of CAPFs, removing stagnation on the one hand and the operational/functional requirements of the forces on the other hand, we are of the view that the number of posts earmarked for deputation in the cadres of the CAPFs upto the level of Senior Administrative Grade (SAG). This should be progressively reduced over a period of time, say within an outer limit of two years,” the court said.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan passed directions on a set of petitions filed by personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The appellants had argued that the existing Group-A executive cadre of CISF mirrors a pyramid with fewer posts at the top of the hierarchy in comparison to the number of posts at the bottom.

“The grievance is that the senior posts are filled up mostly by way of deputation from among officers belonging to the IPS. As one moves up in the hierarchy, the number of deputation posts in Group-A executive cadre increases. In other words, it is the case of the appellants that the number of posts and the percentage of deputations are inversely proportional,” the bench noted.

The Supreme Court noted that as of 2019, the central government had accepted that CAPFs are included within ‘Other Group-A Services’ (OGAS) and all consequential Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFFU), that is, promotion benefits.

“When CAPFs have been declared as OGAS, all benefits available to OGAS should naturally flow to the CAPFs. It cannot be that they are granted one benefit and denied the other,” the bench said.

It then directed that the cadre review in all the CAPFs, which was due in 2021, must be carried out within a period of six months from today.

The Supreme Court also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to give effect to the Department of Personnel and Training order dated July 12, 2019, and undertake the exercise for the review of the existing service rules/recruitment rules of each of the CAPFs.

The top court, in its verdict, observed that the dedicated service of the CAPFs “upholding the security, integrity and sovereignty of the nation while safeguarding our borders and maintaining internal security within the country cannot be ignored or overlooked”.

While the deputation of IPS officials is a policy decision, the court noted, “Due to lateral entry into the higher grades of the respective CAPFs, they are unable to get their timely promotion. Consequently, there is a great deal of stagnation. Such stagnation can adversely impact the morale of the forces. This also needs to be factored in while considering the review of such policy decisions.”

The court, therefore, directed the government to take a decision on the action to be taken within three months of receiving the cadre review and service rules review reports.

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