Haryana Minister, woman IPS officer spar over suspension of policeman

Haryana Energy Minister Anil Vij had a confrontation with a woman IPS officer, Upasana Kaithal SP, during the grievances redressal meeting at Kaithal on Friday.

In a viral video, Mr. Vij, presiding over the meeting, is seen repeatedly asking Kaithal SP, Upasana, to order suspension of a policeman, while the woman police officer is trying to reason with him saying that she did not have the authority to do so.

The argument between the two broke out when Mr. Vij, upon hearing a complaint against a policeman, currently posted in Kurukshetra district, ordered that he be suspended until the completion of the inquiry, as the policeman was allegedly influencing the probe. At this point, Ms. Upasana intervened, stating that she did not have the authority to suspend the said policeman.

The Minister was angered and asked the woman officer to get up and leave the meeting. She repeated that only Kurukshetra SP or the Director General of Police, Haryana, had the authority to initiate action against the policeman.

The woman officer was also accused of dilly-dallying in another case.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Aparajita intervened and explained to the Minister that the woman officer could write to the DGP, but could not order the suspension herself. Mr. Vij said that his orders were applicable in the entire Haryana and she was only to execute them.

Later, Mr Vij, speaking to the mediapersons, clarified that the woman officer had misunderstood, leading to the argument. “I knew that the policeman had been transferred outside Kaithal. But when a Minister asks for the suspension, the officer’s job is to write to the competent authority about our direction. I didn’t ask her to suspend herself. I just ordered the suspension, and it is then the job of the officer to ensure that the directions are implemented following the administrative procedure.”

In 2015, Mr. Vij had a spat with Ms. Rani over the steps taken by the police regarding multiple liquor sale points in the villages. As the argument continued, the Minister allegedly asked the SP to “get out” of the meeting. The woman police officer, however, refused to leave as she felt she was not in the wrong and objected to the Minister’s manner.