The IPS fraternity is questioning the timing of Nisha James' transfer, as it happened amid a slew of anonymous allegations against her.
Published Oct 22, 2022 | 11:51 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 22, 2022 | 11:52 PM
Nisha James, IPS
Was Karnataka IPS officer Nisha James’ transfer a result of her efforts to clean up irregularities in the department? Many in the IPS fraternity believe so.
Even as senior officials in the department deemed James’ transfer “routine”, questions have been raised about the intent and timing of the action, especially since it came barely days after an anonymous smear campaign targeting the officer surfaced on social media.
Nisha James, a 2013 batch IPS officer who was serving as the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in the Administration Wing, the eyes and ears to the office of the Bengaluru city police commissioner, was all of a sudden shunted out on Thursday, 20 October.
According to a movement order dated Wednesday and signed by Additional Director General of Police (Administration) MA Saleem, Nisha James was transferred as the Superintendent of Police (Internal Security Division) and was to take charge on Friday.
The order also stated that BM Laxmi Prasad, awaiting posting, had been directed to take charge as the new DCP (Administration). replacing James.
The transfer came at a time when the ruling BJP government and the police department had not yet fully recovered from the criticisms of the police sub-inspectors (PSI) recruitment scam.
“There is no doubt that IPS officer Nisha James is an outstanding, undisputed, works with integrity and a very efficient officer,” a top officer, at the rank of ADGP, told South First.
“Transfers are government decisions and are effected purely for administrative reasons. This could be just a coincidence that an anonymous, pseudonymous complaint of allegations against the officer was doing rounds, that too on social media, at the very time of her transfer,” the senior officer added.
Others in the department, however, had a different version of events to relate. And they backed it up with some reasonable explanations.
According to department sources, Nisha James’ office identified PSIs, assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs), head constables, and constables who were serving at the same police stations for more than five years, which is against regulations, and transferred them all in July this year.
These police personnel had apparently used their influence through politicians to stay put, working at their desired police stations for years together.
James’ office identified around 3,200 such personnel, including 300 PSIs, and transferred them to different police stations overnight.
“This irked many lower-rung policemen, who had to work under new bosses, and thus they all started lobbying against her,” an officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told South First.
“They then started bringing up allegations, one after the other, and complained to her higher-ups that there were disparities even during the counselling sessions of the police sub-inspectors during their transfers,” the officer added.
A few days after the en masse transfers effected by James, a written complaint — allegedly signed by several policemen — started doing the rounds on social media.
The 13-page complaint letter levelled serious accusations against James, alleging that she was harassing them at the workplace.
Initially, First Division Assistants (FDAs) and Second Division Assistants (SDAs) at her office alleged that they were made to work more than their duty hours — until late around 10 pm.
They also alleged that the IPS officer would not sign or move files when these employees sought salary increments or benefits like leaves or permission citing genuine reasons.
Another allegation was that James would not allow the staff to conduct religious rituals at her office, or even put photographs of their deities there.
The complainants even attacked the IPS officer with personal remarks, questioning her character.
An Inspector General of Police (IGP)-ranked officer, who is an office-bearer of the IPS Officers Association, corroborated the allegations while speaking to South First.
He said: “There were some clerical-level complaints that she would not respond to genuine requests and demands. And that she was being insensitive to their work timings.”
He added: “Another allegation was that of the file clearance: She apparently would not clear files. These were the issues that were inquired into when the allegations cropped up.” he said.
Usually, the department does not waste time by inquiring into anonymous complaints that reach it every now and then. However, since these complaints were against an IPS officer and were gaining traction on social media, senior police officers decided to probe them.
“We summoned the police personnel who seemed to have signed the petition that was doing rounds on social media, but they denied that those were their signatures. After that, we cannot consider any such anonymous or pseudonymous complaint at its face value to take action against an IPS officer,” said the official, adding that the transfer was, indeed, effected due to administrative reasons.
D Roopa, IGP and MD of the Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corporation, told South First that she came to know of the allegations a few days ago.
“Prima facie, it looks like a maligning smear campaign. As women officers, we deal with several problems apart from the regular ones that all of us as cops face. We call it occupational hazards. And I do not want her to lose her heart, and advise her to stay strong. Soon after I came to know about the campaign against her, I messaged her: ‘Nisha, some people are trying to malign u, I guess. Take steps to counter and stay strong. With u’,” she said.
“Since she is my junior colleague, and a sincere and dedicated officer, I thought I should reach out to her,” Roopa told South First.
Bengaluru Additional Commissioner of Police (East Zone) A Subramanyeswara Rao, who was transferred on Friday as the IGP of Karnataka Lokayukta, told South First: “There is no doubt she (Nisha James) is an honest officer. She did her job thoroughly. There is not even a single allegation against her that came to this office.”
