States can take action against civil servants, centre tells Calcutta HC

Kolkata: Additional Solicitor General Ashok Kumar Chakrabarti on Thursday informed the Calcutta High Court that the competent authority to take action against an erring IPS or IAS officer is the state government, and not the Department of Personnel and Training, which is under the Centre.

The matter was discussed in connection with a plea seeking action against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal who, allegedly, had revealed the name of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College & Hospital.

The Centre has informed the high court that the state can take action against IPS or IAS officers in their territory only.


Chakrabarti, representing the Central government, submitted a circular of the home ministry to a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya on this matter on Thursday.

The ASG submitted that in cases where action is to be taken against an IPS or IAS or IFS officer, the state, where the officer is serving, would be able to take action.

In the plea before the division bench, it was alleged that despite the Supreme Court's direction that the confidentiality and identity of victims of sexual assault should be maintained, the former police commissioner had revealed the name of the rape victim.

The matter was taken on record by the court about the Union government's submissions. The next hearing has been scheduled on December 23.

Goyal is posted as the additional director general of the special task force of West Bengal Police. He came under criticism for Kolkata Police's allegedly lackadaisical probe into the doctor's rape and murder when he was the commissioner.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum, an umbrella body of junior doctors, which protested on the RG Kar issue, demanded Goyal's removal from the post. The chief minister had accepted the demand and replaced him with Manoj Kumar Verma.