At a time when the Congress government in Karnataka is facing flak for transferring officials barely six months into their tenure, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi has now courted controversy over his comments.
“Whether the officials are transferred within nine months or nine days, they have to obey the government’s orders. The government is supreme,” Rayareddi told the media, according to the New Indian Express.
This comes at a time when the recent transfers of Hassan DC Rohini Sindhuri and Koppal SP Anoop Shetty have been challenged in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), and a stay has been imposed on their transfers.
Sindhuri was initially transferred on January 23, less than six months after she took over in June 2017. Her transfer was then withdrawn on March 6, after the Election Commission stayed the transfer. Sindhuri was one of five government officials who was asked to stay on in her current posting.
However, a day later, the government brought out a fresh notification which once again notified that Sindhuri was to be transferred.
The BJP has repeatedly criticised the ruling Congress government’s trigger-friendly approach in shuffling officials. Speaking about Sindhuri’s transfer, the BJP earlier alleged that the transfer happened due to disagreements between the officer and the Chief Minister’s office over the preparations for the Mahamastakabhisheka in Shravanabelegola. BJP State President BS Yeddyurappa called the transfer unceremonious and said that there was no place for honest offers in the Siddaramaiah government.
Prior to this, Dakshina Kannada SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy was also transferred just six months into his term.
Reddy’s predecessor, Bhushan Gulabrao Borase, was also shunted out within six months of his appointment after a public tiff with a minister.
Several other officials including Roopa D, C Shikha and Anupama Shenoy have been transferred after disagreements with ministers.