Row over DGP appointment may have spelt Shankar Bidari’s exit

Shankar M Bidari’s transfer out of the Bangalore police commissionerate comes at a time when he is locked in a legal battle over the appointment of the state director-general of police.

It has been widely believed that Bidari’s writ petition in the high court of Karnataka has embarrassed the state government. The former commissioner was considered close to the ruling party.

Following Bidari’s petition, the court had recently ordered the Union Public Service Commission to withhold the empanelment to the DGP’s post. This has put the government in a fix, since it cannot announce the appointment of the DGP till the court delivers its verdict.

Incidentally, when BG Jyothiprakash Mirji arrived at the office of the police commissioner to assume charge, Bidari was in civilian dress, deviating from the tradition of being in the uniform.

The court will take up the next hearing on Bidari’s plea on May 30.

The officer has challenged the legality of a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order, directing that the UPSC could recommend only a certain category of officers for the post of DGP. Earlier, the present director-general of police (fire and emergency services, home guards and civil defence) DV Guruprasad had sought a direction from the CAT. Based on his petition, the CAT had in its April 21 order directed the state government to send a proposal of eligible officers (of particular categories) for the post of DGP.

Guruprasad’s petition quoted the 2010 decisions of the Andhra Pradesh and Madras high courts and said that in view of those decisions, the commissioner was not eligible to be considered. It was also pointed out that Bidari was not in the higher administrative grade.

Bidari took over the responsibilities of the city police commissioner in 2008 from N Achutha Rao. Less than a fortnight after he had taken over, Bidari was thrown into thick of a terror strike, when serial bomb blasts shook Bangalore on July 25, 2008.