Two IPS officers move Uttarakhand high court against central deputation, say posting to lower rank violates rules

DEHRADUN: Two senior IPS officers from the Uttarakhand cadre have moved the High Court challenging their deputation to central forces, claiming the postings are to positions lower than their present rank. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay heard the petition and sought a response from the government. According to the plea, the Union Home Ministry issued orders deputing 2005-batch IPS officer Garg as deputy inspector general (DIG) in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and 2006-batch IPS officer Joshi as DIG in the Border Security Force (BSF). The officers are currently serving as inspector generals of police in the Uttarakhand Police.

They have argued that their deputation is improper because they neither applied for central deputation nor gave their consent. The petitioners also contended that assigning them to the rank of DIG amounts to a posting at a lower rank, which they say violates service rules. In their petition, the officers further stated that they had earlier expressed unwillingness to go on central deputation. Despite this, the state government forwarded their names to the Centre on February 16, 2026, following which the deputation orders were issued.

During the hearing, the counsel representing the state government submitted that if the officers had objections to the decision, they should approach the Central Administrative Tribunal. However, the petitioners’ lawyer argued that since the proposal originated from the state government, it was appropriate for the matter to be raised before the Uttarakhand High Court. After hearing the submissions from both sides, the bench directed the state government to submit its response on the issue.