KOCHI: The Kerala Police is in a catch-22 situation as a number of cops under the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) — an armed reserve group deployed for anti-Maoist operations and security of vital installations in the state — are approaching the government and courts to transfer them to the District Armed Reserve Battalion.
As many as 62 IRB personnel have recently approached the Kerala Administrate Tribunal (KAT) after their requests were turned down by State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb despite the recruitment rules having a provision to that effect, according to sources with the police department.
The IRB was formed in 2009 as a reserve force under the Kerala Police. After training, IRB personnel were deployed at sensitive places in the state — including for anti-Maoist operations — since 2012. The current strength of IRB regulars is 453 with around 200 commandos currently in service.
When IRB was formed, a clause was included in the recruitment rules stating that an IRB person, on completion of 10 years of service, could switch to the Kerala Armed Reserve units as civil police officers (CPOs).
“On such a transfer, their seniority in the force will be intact. The first batch of IRB personnel have already completed the lock-in period, in 2022, and many are applying for transfer to the district armed reserve units,” an IRB official told TNIE.
In January 2023, a High Court division bench permitted a few IRB officers to be relieved from the battalion to join their opted positions as CPOs. But the requests of the 62 officers were ruled out citing severe staff shortage in the IRB. The state police’s decision was challenged in the KAT which ordered the DGP to hear the aggrieved persons and take an apt decision.
After hearing the persons who had applied for transfer, the State Police Chief stuck to his stand. An order by the Home Department on February 14 stated the state government is not in a position to consider the transfer request.
“The recruitment process of the next batch of regular wing police personnel is yet to be finalised by the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) and training session starts only after that. Almost two years is the minimum period to get a new batch of such personnel so as to compensate for the shortage of men,” the government order stated.
The current strength of the regular wing police personnel is woefully insufficient to carry out the day-to-day operations of IRB, which greatly disrupts the routine functioning of the battalion, the order said.
“If the transfer is allowed, it will cause a shortfall of cops and that will affect the smooth functioning of IRB. In this scenario, the government is not in a position to consider the transfer request as of now,” the government said in the order.
However, aggrieved persons have decided to continue with their legal battle considering that the deficiency of policemen in the reserve unit has resulted from the apathy of the authorities in reporting staff requirements to the KPSC.
“Some of our juniors, after approaching the High Court, were transferred to armed reserve units as civil police officers. So, we would also look to adopt the same legal path for the transfer,” an officer said.