Explained: When Jayalalithaa refused to send IPS officers to Centre

New Delhi, Dec 14: In the wake of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's refusal to send three IPS officers on central deputation, similar refusal from Tamil Nadu has echoed when Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa refused to send IPS officers to Centre in 2001.

Presently, the Centre has asked for the three IPS officers to be sent on deputation with the Government of India following an attack on BJP president JP Nadda's motorcade outside Kolkata. These officers were in charge of security. In its refusal, the West Bengal government has cited a shortage of IPS officers.

What happened in Tamil Nadu?

On May 13, 2001, Jayalalithaa took oath as the State Chief Minister. On the night of June 29-30, the State police's CB-CID raided former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's home and arrested him along with his DMK colleagues Murasoli Maran and T R Baalu, then ministers in the NDA government of A B Vajpayee.

It resulted in the removal of Governor Fathima Beevi, as the Centre was not happy with her report. Arun Jaitley, the then Law minister, said the report did "not reflect the true situation in Tamil Nadu today" and that the Governor had "failed to discharge her constitutional obligations".

Three IPS officers, then Chennai Police Commissioner K Muthukaruppan, Joint Commissioner Sebastian George, and Deputy Commissioner Christopher Nelson, were identified as involved in the raid. Considered close to Jayalalithaa, all of them have since retired.

After retirement, Nelson was appointed as Member of the State Planning Commission, and later as the state Information Commissioner.

In West Bengal, the officers the Centre has sought on central deputation are Rajeev Mishra (Additional Director General, South Bengal), Praveen Tripathi (Deputy Inspector General, Presidency Range) and Bholanath Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour).

As is happening now, the Home Ministry, then under LK Advani, had asked the Tamil Nadu government to relieve the three officers for central deputation. Jaitley had said the Centre had "overriding powers" in the transfer of IPS officers.

Jayalalithaa then refused to spare those officers. She wrote to other Chief Ministers for their support to protect the rights of the states. She wrote about the "disturbing trend" in the management of the state cadres of All India Services and Centre-State relations.