Chandigarh, July 24 -- The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Chandigarh Bench, has directed the Centre to process and decide the long-pending proposal of considering the UT police deputy superintendent of police (DSP) cadre as a feeder service for induction into the Indian Police Service (IPS) under the AGMUT cadre. Allowing an application filed by UT police DSP Ram Gopal, the tribunal quashed three communications issued in 2019 which rejected his request for consideration for IPS induction on grounds that the city's DSP cadre was not a recognised feeder cadre. The bench, comprising judicial member Ramesh Singh Thakur and administrative member Rashmi Saxena Sahni, held that administrative delays could not be permitted to defeat an officer's statutory right to be considered for promotion in accordance with the applicable rules. "The inaction on the part of the respondents in taking consequential steps despite the communication dated November 3, 2020, of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the subsequent notification of the Recruitment Rules has resulted in denial of consideration of the applicant's case," the tribunal observed. DSP Gopal had contended that he fulfilled the eligibility criteria prescribed under the IPS (appointment by promotion) Regulations, 1955, having completed more than eight years of service in the rank of DSP. The UT and the Centre opposed the plea, maintaining that Chandigarh police DSPs do not form part of the feeder cadre recognised under the IPS Promotion Regulations and that the applicant therefore had no enforceable right to seek induction into the IPS. They also relied on communications issued by the MHA stating the DSP post was an isolated cadre not covered under existing promotion regulations. The tribunal, however, held that the authorities had failed to act on the MHA' November 3, 2020 communication, which had stated that the proposal to treat Chandigarh DSPs as a feeder cadre for induction into the AGMUT cadre of the IPS would be considered after notification of fresh recruitment rules. The tribunal observed that the recruitment rules were notified on January 21, 2021, but the administration failed to take consequential steps. The tribunal directed the Centre to take consequential steps for implementation of the Chandigarh DSP cadre as a feeder cadre for induction into the AGMUT IPS cadre. The tribunal clarified that DSP Gopal's case would thereafter be considered strictly in accordance with the IPS (Appointment by Promotion) Regulations, 1955, subject to his fulfilling the prescribed eligibility conditions....