Center can step in if Guj IPS officers want: PC

A political slugest erupted on Friday over the Gujarat India Police Service officers' issue with the Centre saying it can intervene if the affected officers want so and the Bharatiya Janata Party hitting back asking it not play "big brother".

Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke about the possibility of the Centre stepping in while expressing concern over Narendra Modi government's action against two senior IPS men locked in a public confrontation with it over the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

"It is a matter of concern," Chidambaram told newsmen when asked whether the Centre was concerned with the tug of war between the police officers of Gujarat and the state goverment over the 2002 riots.

Asked whether the Centre can intervene to resolve the crisis, the home minister said, "Rules do provide for central government to take certain decisions at certain stages but that stage has to be invoked by officer concerned. If officer concerned invokes the rule, certainly we will look into it."

The home minister's reaction came against the backdrop of Gujarat police action against IPS officers Sanjiv Bhatt and Rahul Sharma.

Chidambaram's comment did not go down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party whose senior party leader Arun Jaitley said it was "clearly destructive" of the federal setup of Indian governance.

"If officers of a state government are indulging in any indiscipline, it is for the state government to deal with them. The Central government is not the big brother that can intervene in these matters," Jaitley said, adding BJP has "serious objections" to Chidambaram's statement.