Nazrul Islam

Nazrul Islam has been shifted out of the judicial department, the state government informed the high court on Thursday during the hearing of a plea challenging the IPS officer’s appointment as the director of prosecution.

Islam, the inspector-general of police (welfare), was made the director of prosecution, an officer who controls public prosecutors across Bengal, shortly after the state had to pay the cop a fine of Re 1 for maligning him publicly by starting a vigilance commission case against him.

On Thursday, advocate-general Balai Ray told Justice S. Banerjee that the state had issued a notification on Wednesday withdrawing Islam from the post of director of prosecution.

“The name of the IPS officer has been kept on the waiting list for appointing him to the rank of additional director general,” Ray told the court.

Advocate Ibrahim Sheikh had challenged the legality of the process the state had adopted while transferring Islam to the post of the director of prosecution.

“According to Section 25A of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), an advocate practising in courts for at least 10 years at a stretch can be appointed as director of prosecution. Islam is neither an LLB nor has he practised in any court,” Bilwadal Bhattacharya, the lawyer who appeared for Sheikh, had argued.

The lawyer also claimed that the state government should have consulted Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar before appointing Islam to the post but did not do so.

In September 2008, Islam had moved court challenging the legality of the state government’s decision to start a vigilance probe against him. A trial court’s order asking the state to pay a fine of Re 1 to the officer was upheld by the high court. The division bench had asked the state to identify the persons responsible for the probe and realise the fine amount from them.

State officials claimed that the probe was started after the government received a complaint that his assets were disproportionate to his known sources of income.