By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 23 Nov: Senior IPS Officer of Uttarakhand cadre, Deepam Seth, presently posted on deputation to the Centre as Additional Director General (ADG) Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) has been relieved from Deputation by the Union Home Ministry on the request of the state government. Seth, a 1995 cadre IPS Officer of Uttarakhand cadre is presently the senior-most IPS officer from Uttarakhand along with PVK Prasad who is also a 1995 cadre. This has sparked a speculation within the bureaucratic and political circles whether on his return, Seth will be appointed as new Director General of Police (DGP).
The present DGP of Uttarakhand, Abhinav Kumar is a 1996 cadre officer of UP cadre. Despite having a reputation of being a no-nonsense officer who also enjoys the trust of the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his appointment as DGP ran into some technical issues as his home cadre is not Uttarakhand but Uttar Pradesh. UPSC and the DOPT had raised some technical queries in respect of his promotion as DGP in Uttarakhand, chiefly on account of being from UP cadre. This has given rise to the speculation that Seth, also an IPS officer with a clean image may be appointed as the new DGP of Uttarakhand. It is pertinent to note that the relieving order in case of Seth mentions that he is being relieved from Central deputation on the request of his cadre. It also may be recalled that the Centre had relaxed the norms for the eligbility for posting as DGP in Uttarakhand since no officer from the state fulfils the criteria of 30 years of service as IPS officer in order to be eligible to be promoted as DGP.
