The Centre has sacked two IPS officers, including one for entering into a second marriage without having annulled the first, under a rule that allows it to compulsorily retire civil servants “in public interest”.
Both the DIG-level officers belong to Chhattisgarh cadre. The two officers removed under the All India Services Rules-1958 are AM Juri from the 2000 batch and K C Agrawal from the 2002 batch. While Juri was reportedly retired for taking a second wife without divorcing his first spouse, which is barred under the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
Agrawal was sacked over ‘nonperformance’ in view of allegations of corruption. Both the officers faced the axe on the basis of adverse reports from Chhattisgarh following a state-level panel review. Juri is alleged to have remarried without legally annulling his first marriage. He also has two children from the second ‘wife’. Though this was a personal detail known well to his bosses and fellow officers, the state is believed to have been spurred to initiate action against him when his second wife wrote to it, pleading that her two kids be declared legal heirs for inheritance purposes.
According to the state government’s report forwarded to the home ministry, the cadre controlling authority for all IPS officers, a verification based on school records of the two children showed that Juri was indeed their father.
“Given that Rule 19 of AIS (Conduct) Rules clearly bars a member of the service from entering into, or contracting a marriage with a person having a spouse living, the state government took a serious view of the violation of the said rule by Juri and put him on the watch list. The home ministry, also viewing it as an ‘open and shut’ case, decided to recommend it to ACC to compulsorily retire him in public interest,” a home ministry officer said.
In 2015, the Supreme Court had ordered that a person violating the rule that prohibits a government servant from having two wives simultaneously was liable to be sacked, even if he happened to be a Muslim.
Juri, who joined the state police service in 1983, was promoted to IPS in 2000, while Agrawal joined the state police service in 1985 and was promoted to IPS in 2002.
According to service rules, the central government may, in consultation with the state government concerned, require a member of the service to retire in public interest, after giving at least three month notice in writing or as many months’ pay and allowances in lieu of such notice. In January, Mayank Sheel Chohan, a 1998 batch Union Territory cadre officer, and Raj Kumar Dewangan, a 1992 batch Chhattisgarh cadre officer, were removed from the service on similar grounds.
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