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Torpedoed Cop Hits Back

DGP aspirant C. Dinakar forces the ruling Janata Dal to face the ghost of the '80s torpedo scam

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Torpedoed Cop Hits Back
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THE new appointment had been greeted by the ruling Janata Dal and the state home department with a sense of relief. For, the outgoing Karnataka director general of police, A.P. Durai—now set to be replaced by T. Srinivasulu—had in his five months as head of the state police earned the ire of his political masters by refusing to order convenient transfers of officers. Moreover, he had allegedly snubbed them by determinedly sticking to the rules. However, that relief has been shortlived. Chief Minister J.H. Patel has been put in a spot by Durai's colleague C. Dinakar, who has petitioned the central administrative tribunal (CAT) to appoint him rather than Srinivasulu as the new director general. The reason: Srinivasulu's selection was not based on seniority and merit but was influenced by malice towards Dinakar.

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The CAT petition directly affects Patel, as it has once again brought into focus the controversial German torpedo deal which was negotiated in the late '80s when Patel was Karnataka industries minister in the Ramakrishna Hegde cabinet. Dinakar has accused Patel of not appointing him DGP as he had investigated the sale of torpedoes to the Indian Navy by the German firm AEG-T during his tenure as head of the Corps of Detectives (COD).

The investigation, according to Dinakar's petition, found a prima facie case where a Rs 2.5 crore commission due to the Karnataka state PSU New Government Engineering Factory (NGEF) was not paid. The CoD investigation supplemented the ongoing CBI investigation into the deal and the CBI FIR states that instead of the legal commission due to the company, a 10 per cent "commission/bribe" of the DM 150 million deal was paid to "induce/influence" public servants by "illegal/corrupt" means

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This report, points out Dinakar's petition, had upset Patel as it pointed a finger at N.K. Prabhakar Rao, an IAS officer (now retired) who headed NGEF, for allegedly fabricating documents to cover up the nonpayment of commission. Dinakar also claims that he did not act according to the wishes of Patel in the investigation of some cases handled by the COD, as a result of which Patel was prejudiced against him. Supplying politically significant grounds to quash the appointment of Srinivasulu, Dinakar states that his investigation of the P.C. Dental College case, which involved payment of bribes to former chief minister S. Bangarappa among others, was not to the liking of the ruling Janata Dal. The political message involved was loud and clear: accord soft-glove treatment to Bangarappa, an ally of Congress president Sitaram Kesri who was working to withdraw support to former prime minister Deve Gowda.

Apart from the explosive allegation of mala fides in the non-appointment of Dinakar as head of the state police, the CAT petition also points out how the merit-cum-seniority criterion was negated to favour Srinivasulu. Dinakar belongs to the 1963 batch of the IPS and is fourth in the overall merit-seniority list, while Sriniva-sulu belongs to the 1964 batch and is 21st in the merit-seniority list. In Karnataka, Srinivasulu superceded four officers when he was appointed state DGP.

Also, by moving Dinakar out from the COD to his present job as DGP (home guards, civil defence and fire services), the petition states that the government has also committed contempt of the Supreme Court. The apex court had ordered against any transfer of Dinakar and a subordinate in the COD as they were assisting the CBI in the P.C. Dental College investigation. "This is a mischievous tendency of some officers to raise a dead issue, drag me into it and create a cloud of suspicion," Patel told Outlook. "How can he accuse me of mala fide intentions when I was in no way involved (in the torpedo deal)?" he asks. Moreover, the chief minister explains, the post of state DGP is a selection post and it is entirely his prerogative to make the appointment. While that point will be judged by the CAT based on previous Supreme Court rulings in similar cases, Patel is expected to have a tougher time dealing with the allegations of mala fides in the torpedo deal investigation.

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And Patel has not hidden this discomfort caused by Dinakar, an IPS officer known for his integrity and investigative skills. Says Patel: "You'll hear about Dinakar's meritorious services. All his blunders in service will be placed before the CAT." Sources in the state home department reveal that efforts are on to trace slip-ups by Dinakar during his COD tenure. Emphasis is being placed on the case where a Chikmagalore-based doctor was wrongly accused by the COD of murdering his wife. The real culprits were later discovered by the Bangalore Police crime branch.

The task of implicating Dinakar in the goof-up, however, is proving to be difficult considering the "thorough job" done by him. The controversy will come to a boil when the CAT hears the petition later this month. And a lot of dirty linen is expected to be washed in public. While Dinakar's appeal may only seek to set right the injustice meted to him by the appointment of Srinivasulu, the petition has the potential to damage the reputation of Karnataka's political heavyweights J.H. Patel and Ramakrishna Hegde. But that becomes a real possibility only if the CBI—unlike in the last investigation of the case when things were put on a convenient back-burner—does actually pursue the torpedo deal to its logical conclusion.

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