In a significant clarification, the Central Government informed the Calcutta High Court on Thursday that state governments hold the authority to take action against Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Administrative Service (IAS), and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers serving in their respective territories. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Ashok Kr Chakrabarti, representing the Union government, cited a circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on October 24, affirming this position.
The ASG presented the circular before the division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya during a hearing on a petition against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal. The officer allegedly revealed the name of a rape and murder victim, a trainee doctor from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, in violation of Supreme Court directives on the privacy of sexual assault victims.
ASG Chakrabarti emphasized that the Department of Personnel and Training is not the competent authority to initiate action against these officers in such instances. Instead, the responsibility lies with the state in which the officer is serving.
Taking note of this, the court recorded the submissions and directed all respondents to file their affidavits. “Maintaining the dignity and privacy of victims of sexual violence is a constitutional imperative. The disclosure of such sensitive information is a grave dereliction of duty,” the bench remarked during the proceedings.
The court has listed the matter for its next hearing on December 23, 2024.
