Before Mamata, Jaya Refused To Send IPS Officers To Centre
- 14-Dec-2020
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In the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government’s refusal to send three IPS officers on central deputation, there is an echo of a similar refusal by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2001.
In the current instance, the Centre has asked for the three IPS officers to be sent on deputation with the Government of India following an attack on BJP president J P Nadda’s motorcade outside Kolkata; these officers were in charge of security. In its refusal, the West Bengal government has cited a shortage of IPS officers.
The Tamil Nadu parallel
Jayalalithaa took oath as Chief Minister on May 13, 2001. On the night of June 29-30, Tamil Nadu police’s CB-CID raided former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s home and arrested him along with his DMK colleagues Murasoli Maran and T R Baalu, then ministers in the NDA government of A B Vajpayee.
It resulted in the removal of Governor Fathima Beevi, as the Centre was not happy with her report. Then Law Minister Arun Jaitley said the report did “not reflect the true situation in Tamil Nadu today" and that the Governor had “wholly failed to discharge her constitutional obligations”.
Three IPS officers were identified as involved in the raid: then Chennai Police Commissioner K Muthukaruppan, Joint Commissioner Sebastian George, and Deputy Commissioner Christopher Nelson. Considered close to Jayalalithaa, all of them have since retired. After retirement, Nelson was appointed as Member of the State Planning Commission, and later as the state Information Commissioner.
