Dagga case shows why removing govt officers from service isn't easy

Compulsory retirement is part of a half-yearly exercise now for cases where govt wants to weed out officers, but without taking the disciplinary proceedings route

The recent compulsory retirement of Rinku Dagga from service conveys a message of penalty, but she is not the first officer whose services have been terminated in this manner since 2020 when the rules governing government officers were expanded. She is one of 88.

Dagga, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, and her husband, Sanjeev Khirwar (also an IAS officer), had made headlines last year for reportedly getting sportspersons to finish training early so that they could walk their dog in a stadium in New Delhi. While Khirwar was transferred to Ladakh, Dagga, who was earlier sent to Arunachal Pradesh,