Srinagar:Union home ministry has extended the suspension of Jammu and Kashmir police officer Basant Rath for another six months, says after he wrote to home secretary Ajay Bhalla calling the suspension order “unscrupulous” and “unethical exercise”. Basant Rath was first suspended in July 2020 for what was described as “repeated instances of gross misconduct and misbehaviour”.
“[The] President, after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the recommendations of the Central Review Committee, has come to the conclusion that Shri Basant Kumar Rath, IPS (AGMUT: 2000) shall continue to remain under suspension for a further period of 180 days beyond 31.07.2023 i.e., upto 27.01.2024,” the order dated July 28 said.
Rath, an Inspector General of Police-ranked officer, has had differences with Jammu and Kashmir director general of police Dilbag Singh that had led him to file a police complaint against him in June 2020, expressing apprehensions for his “safety and reputation”.
Rath was shunted to the nondescript home guards and civil defence department from the traffic in November 2018 after a spat on Twitter with Junaid Mattu, who had just been elected Srinagar Mayor.
In the nine-odd months that he oversaw the traffic department, Basant Rath and his unorthodox style did have its fair share of critics and admirers. The police brass, for one, didn’t take too well to his working in the field in civilian clothes, and instances where he and his team were accused of hurling abuses and manhandling commuters.
Rath however, has his set of admirers in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere, particularly after he started shipping out textbooks and study material for young Kashmiris in remote parts of the state so that they could study for competitive examinations even if they didn’t have the resources.