Won’t allow indiscipline in police force, CM warns again

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 24

The office of the Chief Minister will not tolerate indiscipline in the police force, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh made it clear while interacting with the media here on Tuesday. “Discipline in the uniformed forces, be it the Army, the paramilitary or the police, has to be maintained at all costs,” he stressed.

The remark is significant. It comes in the backdrop of Anupam Gupta, amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the drug probe case, telling the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday that the CM was in contempt of court for threatening officers with dismissal for having approached the court, calling it as “indiscipline.” 

Sidharth Chattopadhyay, SIT chief, had last month created ripples when he told the court that the probe against an SSP in a drug case was leading him to top cops Suresh Arora and Dinkar Gupta and, therefore, there was an attempt to falsely implicate him in a case. With the split in the police top brass wide open, the CM had subsequently called a meeting to warn he would not tolerate indiscipline.

The CM said he had not interfered in the matter before the court, but only given directions to police officers in the interest of the state. “A boss, on the top of the hierarchy, has to be heard. Anybody who questions him is breaking discipline,” he maintained.

On reasons for STF head Harpreet Sidhu, who was given independent charge, now reporting to DGP Arora instead of the CMO, Capt Amarinder replied: “Sidhu was on central deputation and could not have been brought back to head the STF during his deputation tenure. He was made to join the CMO. His period of  deputation over, he is now under the DGP’s command.” 

On MLAs being unhappy over not being taken in the Cabinet, the CM said they would be “accommodated.”