If the government does not take immediate measures to rectify the situation, the next chief of Intelligence Bureau, Tapan Kumar Deka, who will take charge on June 30, will no longer be the top police officer of the country which was the case in principle and practice since pre-independence days.

The Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB) traditionally chairs the annual conference of all police chiefs of the country as he is "considered the Head of entire police family in India" and is only four-star police officer in the country, at par with the army chief.


But by stroke of pen more than five years back, in 2016, the government decided to grant the apex pay scale "by seniority" to 11 officers who have been empanelled as director general, the top post for Indian Police Service officers, at the centre.

This meant that if the DIB is not among the top 11 IPS officers at the centre at the time of appointment, he or she (in theory as the country is yet to see a woman officer as the DIB) would not be entitled to get apex Pay scale.


And as on date today, Tapan Kumar Deka, a 1988 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, is not among the 11 senior most officers at the centre, and hence not entitled to get the apex pay scale. Not only Deka but an another officer senior to him,  AS Rajan who belongs to 1987 batch, is yet to get the apex pay scale. Besides, there are four more IPS officers in the IB who are senior to Deka in the 1988 batch itself, but they too are waiting for apex pay scale.

To be continued.....