New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The CRPF on Tuesday revoked the about three-month old suspension of a senior DIG-rank officer who was charged with sharing social media content that allegedly sought a “change” in the government during the passage of the 2026 CAPF bill, officials said.
They told PTI that the order issued by the headquarters of the paramilitary force stated that the suspension of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Bidhan Chandra Patra was being revoked with “immediate effect”.
The order was issued almost 20 days after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) considered the “merits” of the case and directed the CRPF on August 27 to withdraw the suspension.
It added that the period of the suspension, from June 18, will be “regularised” after finalisation of the pending inquiry against the officer.
The highly decorated DIG is a 1994-batch CRPF cadre officer. He returned to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in April after completing a deputation posting with the federal counter-terrorist commando force NSG.
Patra was suspended under relevant clauses of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.
The charges against him included alleged sharing of audio-visual and pictorial content on social media platforms that allegedly called for “changing” the country’s lawfully elected government during the passage of the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Bill 2026.
The bill is now an Act after it received presidential assent in April.
CRPF cadre officers had earlier said that Patra was targeted because he was the lead petitioner before various courts for fighting cases related to the promotions and service parity of the cadre officers with that of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers who join the force on deputation.
An association of ex-CAPF officers has also called a press conference on July 2 against the “hasty and illegal” suspension of the DIG.
In their representations sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), serving Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) cadre officers had stated that the Bill’s provisions were “oppressive” and “discriminatory” and that they would continue to stagnate in their current ranks if IPS deputations were not curtailed as directed by the Supreme Court in an order issued last year.
The Centre filed an appeal against this order which the apex court rejected.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a contempt petition filed by the CAPF cadre officers and has sought an affidavit from Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on the process followed by the government to depute IPS officers post its May 2025 order which directed curtailing such deputation up to the Inspector General (IG) rank.
The government has said the Act seeks to create a unified legal framework governing the service conditions of personnel across the CAPFs, replacing the current patchwork of separate service rule regimes for cadre officers and those coming on deputation from the Indian Police Service. PTI NES SKY SKY SKY
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