IPS Vartika Katiyar challenges transfer after Ballari violence, CAT grants interim relief

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.