LUCKNOW: UP Police has demoted a DSP found in a hotel with a woman constable three years ago to the rank of a constable, his first post when he joined service decades back. Kripa Shankar Kanaujiya is now 59, with only about a year left for retirement.
Saturday’s order requires Kanaujiya to join as a constable in PAC’s 26th battalion in Gorakhpur. The decision has stirred debate within police circles on the quantum of punishment for “misconduct”, the term mentioned in the official communique about the DSP’s demotion.Senior officers also stressed that punishment should be proportionate to “crime”.
Another senior officer pointed out that very few constables rose to become DSPs after serving decades and argued that such demotions should be ordered in the rarest of rare cases.
Former UP DGP and BJP RS MP Brijlal preferred dismissal, rather than demotions, for officers indulging in such misdemeanours.
However, a senior UP Police pointed out that the action against Kanaujiya was taken under UP govt’s servant (discipline and appeal) rules 1999, which allow reversions to the first post as part of penalty.
The matter goes back to July 2021 when Kanaujiya was a circle officer in Unnao. He had requested the then SP for leave citing family commitments but did not go home. It was reported that he checked into a hotel near Kanpur, accompanied by the woman constable.
Saturday’s order requires Kanaujiya to join as a constable in PAC’s 26th battalion in Gorakhpur. The decision has stirred debate within police circles on the quantum of punishment for “misconduct”, the term mentioned in the official communique about the DSP’s demotion.Senior officers also stressed that punishment should be proportionate to “crime”.
Another senior officer pointed out that very few constables rose to become DSPs after serving decades and argued that such demotions should be ordered in the rarest of rare cases.
Former UP DGP and BJP RS MP Brijlal preferred dismissal, rather than demotions, for officers indulging in such misdemeanours.
However, a senior UP Police pointed out that the action against Kanaujiya was taken under UP govt’s servant (discipline and appeal) rules 1999, which allow reversions to the first post as part of penalty.
The matter goes back to July 2021 when Kanaujiya was a circle officer in Unnao. He had requested the then SP for leave citing family commitments but did not go home. It was reported that he checked into a hotel near Kanpur, accompanied by the woman constable.
