Senior IPS officer Vartika Katiyar has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) challenging her transfer from the Ballari Range. The move comes days after violence in the district left a Congress worker dead. The Karnataka government had shifted Vartika, then serving as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Ballari Range, to the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement following the January 1 incident.
The violence, triggered reportedly over the installation of a banner, resulted in the death of Rajashekar Reddy and quickly escalated into a political slugfest between the BJP and Congress. The case has since been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The government also suspended Ballari Superintendent of Police Pavan Nejjur just a day into his tenure, citing alleged negligence.
Vartika filed a petition before the CAT against the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, arguing that her transfer violated a 2014 central rule that bars the transfer of IPS officers within two years of their posting. She had taken charge as DIG of the Ballari Range only in July 2025. A senior home department official said the transfer was issued “without reason.”
On Monday, January 13, a bench comprising CAT member Sanjiv Kumar and Justice S Sujatha directed the state government not to take any precipitative action against Vartika for failing to join her new post until the next hearing on January 19.