KOCHI: Can a retired sub-inspector (SI) of police be appointed as liaison officer for the Home Department? In what seems a blatant departure from the set norms, the Home Department recently issued an order appointing a retired sub-inspector as liaison officer.
Moreover, to cover-up the favoritism, the Department abstained from mentioning in its order that the appointee had retired from service.
The incident is likely to add to the embarrassment of the government and the CPM, which are yet to recover from the setback caused by the resignation of E P Jayarajan who allegedly appointed his relatives to top government posts.
Documents accessed by ‘Express’ show that the Home Department, which comes directly under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, appointed retired SI P G Venugopal, who had been serving as home guard after retirement, as liaison officer in the office of the Advocate General.
The Additional Chief Secretary in his order informed that P G Venugopal, who had been appointed as home guard to serve the Police Department, was placed at the disposal of the Advocate General. The order reads, “...the services of P G Venugopal, who was appointed as home guard to serve the Police Department, has been placed at your disposal.”
The Advocate General, in his order issued based the directive by the Chief Secretary, stated, “Venugopal’s service as liaison officer will be used for the Home Department at the office of the Advocate General, since no other appointment has been made to that post.”
Venugopal had retired from service on July 31, 2016. In the first place, it is very rare to appoint a retired SI as home guard, and to assign him the job of liaison officer.
When contacted, an official of the Law Department said he was unaware of the order issued by S
Meanwhile, a senior official of the State Government who sought anonymity said the order itself was illegal, and termed it a ‘backdoor’ appointment.
A retired law officer said a liaison officer would have to handle confidential information and that a person in service is appointing for the job usually. The appointment of a retired police official as liaison officer will set a wrong precedent as the government would not be able to take action in case of any lapse.
The job of the liaison officer is to liaison between the court and the Home Department, and is responsible for updating cases involving the Home Department.
Home guards are appointed on daily-wage basis to assist the police, and are mainly deployed for traffic control.