The new provisions are to the detriment of APF chief Basu Dev Oli and NID chief Dhan Singh Karki, and dozens of other senior officers at both the APF and NID. [break]
The Home Ministry on Wednesday afternoon sent a letter to AIG Sanat Kumar Basnet to work as acting chief of the APF and a similar letter to Ashok Dev Bhatta to take over as acting chief of NID, the intelligence arm of the government.
Basnet, who joined the APF from the Nepal Army, is senior to his only contender, AIG Kishor Lama. Basnet began his career as a second lieutenant with the Nepal Army on July 16, 1981, and was promoted to AIG on March 15, 2007.
The government led by Girija Prasad Koirala had extended Oli´s term by two years on February 18, 2007 after he completed 30 years of service.
Home Ministry’s spokesperson Nabin Ghimire said they have already sent letters to all senior officers being retired from both organizations. “Both the organizations have been directed to give retirement to junior officers also in accordance with the new provisions, after tallying their records in office,” he added.
As per the existing regulations, the government, if it deems necessary, can extend by two years the tenures of senior officers who have already served 30 years.
This discretionary provision, however, has remained controversial for the past several years as the government chose to extend the tenures of some officers while denying the same favor to many others.
A notice concerning the Armed Police Force (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2065 BS published in the Nepal Gazette on Monday included a provision giving compulsory retirement to those who have served 30 years in their respective organizations. The amendment notice on NID has not been made public.
Existing APF regulations contain provisions giving compulsory retirement either on the basis of years of service in a particular position or on the basis of age limit.
The age limit for inspector general at the APF and chief investigation director at NID is 58, while it is 56 for AIG and DIG and 55 and 54 for SSP and SP respectively.
Likewise, police officers are automatically retired after serving a maximum of 10 yeas as SP, 7 years as SSP, 5 years as DIG, 5 years as AIG or 4 years as IGP.
Senior APF officers retiring under the new provision include AIG Narayan Raj Pandey and DIGs Raj Kumar Rana, Madhav Thapa and Mahendra Bhttachan. SSPs Ram Krishna Matangulu and Rajan Thapa and SPs Dilip Basnet, Bal Kumar Shrestha, Ram Bilas Das and Kaman Singh Thapa are also among those being retired.
Likewise, altogether 20 senior NID officers are being retired with the implementation of the new provisions. Additional Investigation Director Sukh Chandra Jha, DIGs (Investigation Directors) Basant Rai, Rabindra Shahi, and Jit Bahadur Shahi, SSP-level NID officer Durga Basnet, Min Bahadur KC, SP-level officers Raj Kumar Shrestha, Birendra Sah and Kamal Miya are among those retiring at NID.
These retirements leave vacant four positions of AIG, seven positions of DIG, nine of SSP and over a dozen positions of SP at the APF. Three of the five positions of AIG have already been lying vacant for some six months.
DIGs Krishna Bista, Shailendra Shrestha, Kosh Raj Onta and Thakur Mohan Shrestha are prospective candidates for promotion to AIG in terms of seniority.
Likewise, SSPs Sushil Kumar Shrestha, Prakash Ojha, Prem Shahi, Singh Bahadur Shrestha, Mukunda Thapa Chhetri, Bhisma Kanta Aryal and Ranjan Koirala are in line for promotion to DIG. However, the promotion of SSP Koirala is likely to be stalled, according to Home Ministry officials, as he has not undergone a mandatory training course.
As per Armed Police Force regulations, it is mandatory for APF officers to undergo fundamental training courses including company-commander and staff training, for purposes of promotion.
SP Durga Kunwar, who is also in line for promotion, has likewise not received the basic armed police force conversion training needed for promotion, according to a source at APF Headquarters. The earlier promotion of these two officers from immediate lower positions had caused dissatisfaction among colleagues.
Sources at the Home Ministry said similar amendments are being made to the Nepal Police regulations.
As per the new amendments, the chiefs of all three security wings—Nepal Police, APF and NID—will be retired after two years of service. Likewise, the tenures of AIGs and DIGs will now be three years each.
Last year also, the government had relieved 11 AIGs with the Nepal Police after they completed 30 years of service.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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