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How Kerala DGP Senkumar did a Dhoni

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TS Sudhir
TS SudhirApr 24, 2017 | 16:54

How Kerala DGP Senkumar did a Dhoni

TP Senkumar has done a Mahendra Singh Dhoni by finishing his game against Kerala's ruling LDF government in style, with two months to spare (he is due to retire in June 2017). CM Pinarayi Vijayan has been forced to eat humble pie and has no option but to reinstate Senkumar as the Kerala state police chief.

The top cop was removed from his post of DGP as soon as LDF came to power in May and Senkumar took the legal route to get justice.

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Senkumar's argument was that the police chief is appointed for a fixed tenure of two years and when he was shunted out, he had not finished his term in the DGP's post. He was sent to head the Kerala Police Housing Construction Corporation, infamous as a loopline posting in police circles.

The implication that Senkumar was inefficient was a worse slur for an officer who took pride in his career achievements.

The manner of investigation into the Puttingal temple fireworks tragedy in Kollam in April last year, in which 110 people died, and the Jisha rape and murder case in Ernakulam were held against the DGP.

During the election campaign, Vijayan himself had criticised the DGP for the shoddy handling of the Jisha case. Jisha was a law student who was raped and killed in Ernakulam district in April last year.

The appointment of additional DGP B Sandhya to head the probe team soon after Vijayan took over was an indication to Senkumar that his time was up because all this while, the DGP had maintained that the "investigation team was doing good professional work".

That Senkumar wasn't going to go down without a fight was obvious in the farewell note he put out on the State Police Chief's official Facebook page soon after he was removed. He pointed to his credentials as an officer with honesty and integrity and that he did nothing wrong in his 35-year-long career.

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He also attempted to hit his successor Loknath Behra for a helicopter shot with a jibe – "I still have all my vertebras intact" - an apparent reference to how he did not bend before anyone to get a plum post.

Senkumar's usage of Facebook as a means of communication had been the butt of ridicule for dyed-in-the-wool Marxists. Just three months before the DGP was removed, former chief minister VS Achuthanandan had taken Senkumar to the cleaners, criticising the law and order situation. "When goons go berserk all over Kerala, the DGP is playing with his Facebook page. Is it for this that he is hanging his IPS badge?"

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Initially, Pinarayi Vijayan was seen backing Thomas, an upright officer, much to the chagrin of the IAS lobby but finally seemed to have succumbed to pressure. Photo: India Today

He sarcastically suggested that Senkumar's designation ought to be changed to DGP (Facebook) instead of DGP (Law and Order). Ironically, two months later, VS launched himself on social media and promoted himself aggressively in the online space.

Why Supreme Court's verdict reinstating Senkumar is significant is because it comes after the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and the Kerala High Court had ruled in the government's favour.

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The apex court ruled that the transfer was "arbitrary", which meant it was in concurrence with Senkumar's contention that he was being punished for undertaking probes against the CPM leadership in the past. The SC verdict has, by implication, shown the Vijayan regime as vengeful.

The setback to the Kerala government comes at a time when one of its senior ministers is embroiled in an ugly row with an IAS officer. Last week, electricity minister MM Mani used despicable language against Devikulam sub-collector V Sriram because a cross was removed from encroached land during an anti-encroachment drive in Munnar.

"Lock him up in a mental asylum for razing down a Christian cross," he said about the young IAS officer, charging him with being an RSS henchman and comparing the removal of the cross with the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Opposition politicians too have not spared an effort to bully the bureaucracy. Kozhikode MP MK Raghavan of the Congress threatened to sue the then district collector last July. This was after collector Prasanth Nair told the MP, who had barged into the Collectorate and threatened the staff, that political pressure and threats won't work. When the MP asked for an apology, Nair cheekily put up on his Facebook page a map (maapu in Malayalam means apology) of a town in Thrissur district.

It is not just politicians versus bureaucrats. That all is not well within the Kerala bureaucracy was obvious when the entire IAS machinery decided to go on an unprecedented strike for a day in January. Their angst was directed against senior IPS officer Jacob Thomas, who was Kerala vigilance chief until recently and had been pursuing corruption cases against IAS officers.

Initially, Vijayan was seen backing Thomas, an upright officer, much to the chagrin of the IAS lobby but finally seemed to have succumbed to pressure and moved him out this month.

The next two months are bound to witness an uncomfortable working relationship between the LDF political establishment and Senkumar. That's certain to affect the morale of the force.

While it is necessary to rein in politicians like Mani and Raghavan, what is needed is for Kerala leaders and officers to have a healthy respect for each other's roles instead of attributing motives about each other's intentions.

Last updated: April 24, 2017 | 16:54
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