Kochi : The high court has set aside the state govt orders dissolving the Kerala Police Officers Association and restructuring the Kerala Police Association, along with appointing an ad hoc committee, holding that the orders violated the right to form associations guaranteed under Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution.
the bench said it was evident that the impugned orders were an intrusion into the rights of the petitioners in both petitions, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(c), read with Article 33 of the Constitution and the Police-Forces (Restriction of Rights) Act While allowing the petitions. It was also stated that under the rules framed under the PRR Act, 1961, members of the police force belonging to the same rank who desired to form an association could apply for recognition under Rule 3.1(b) of the said Act. Therefore, the govt could not have interfered with the structure of the recognised associations.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued the orders while allowing petitions filed by the Kerala Police Association (KPA) and the Kerala Police Officers Association (KPOA) challenging the impugned orders. The orders were issued by the additional chief secretary of the home department mainly to reorganise the KPA by extending its membership to grade assistant sub inspectors, assistant sub inspectors and grade sub inspectors. The recognition granted to the police associations had not been revoked either by the state police chief or the govt. The bench held that the impugned govt orders abolishing the associations and interfering with their membership and assets without the consent of their members and contrary to their bylaws were legally invalid. Consequently, the orders constituting the ad hoc committees were also liable to be quashed, the bench ordered.