April 23, Kathmandu – Three days after assuming office, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung inspected the Police Headquarters on March 30 and declared, “We will arrange for the newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) to be garlanded by the Prime Minister. I will take the initiative to make this happen.” Police officials present at the auditorium hall in Naxal Headquarters responded with applause.
The following day, Gurung visited the Armed Police Force Headquarters in Halchok and addressed those present in a similar manner. He expressed his commitment to boosting the morale of the Armed Police. Visiting two police offices within two days and announcing the system of the Prime Minister garlanding the IGP has been received positively by police officers.
Nearly a month has passed since the Home Minister’s promise, and preparations are underway to appoint a new IGP in the Armed Police within the next eight days. The four-year tenure of Armed Police Inspector General Raju Aryal is ending, and he will take mandatory retirement on April 30. The government is expected to make the decision on the new IGP this week, with the new IGP to be garlanded eight days later.
Following Minister Gurung’s commitment to facilitate the Prime Minister’s role in the garlanding ceremony, discussions are ongoing within security circles about who will garland the next IGP. According to the Home Ministry, preparations are progressing according to the former minister’s statement to have the IGP garlanded by the Prime Minister, although no final decision has been made. A ministry official said, “Based on current preparations, the garlanding will be done by the Prime Minister’s hands. If nothing changes at the last moment, the IGP appointed about a week from now will be garlanded by the Prime Minister.”
However, since Minister Sudhan Gurung has resigned from his post, it is uncertain whether this effort will be successful, and clarity will only come after the new IGP is appointed. Although the Police Act does not specify any rule about garlanding, traditionally, the outgoing IGP garlands the newly-appointed IGP.
Historically, the first Nepal Police IGP Toran Shamsher Rana used to garland himself. Subsequently, some events show there was no fixed rule and these practices were guided by traditional administrative decisions.
In 1961, after Pahal Singh Lama became IGP and modernization began in the police force, the historic traditions of garlanding started. According to former AIG Amar Singh Shah, after Lama’s tenure, it became customary for the outgoing IGP to garland the incoming IGP. Yet, over the years, interruptions and controversies arose, with political decisions by prime ministers and home ministers sometimes involving the Home Secretary in the garlanding ceremony.
A change in 1992 disrupted the tradition when Ratna Shamsher and some other IGPs were removed after reaching a 30-year service limit under the Police Act. Since then, various changes occurred. It remains a tradition for the Home Secretary to garland IGPs. According to former Home Minister Umesh Mainali, when the police organization was under the Home Ministry, the family, formal, and administrative custom was established where the Home Secretary garlanded IGPs. The tradition of garlanding the IGP in the Armed Police Force is somewhat irregular. The Armed Police Force was formed in 2000 after the Maoist insurgency, and the first IGP Krishna Mohan Shrestha was garlanded by then Home Minister Ramchandra Paudel. However, no set administrative or legal rule exists for garlanding a new IGP in the Armed Police Force, resulting in a disorganized and voluntary process.
The question now is who will garland the new IGP appointed on April 30. If the Prime Minister does the garlanding, it will be a historic first. Although the Police Act and regulations do not clearly mention the history or importance of this tradition, it remains a social and historical custom. A book titled History of Nepal Police refers to a ceremony at promotion occasions where senior officials adorn badges and offer fruits and colored powders as symbols of good wishes.
Former IGP Motilal Bohora said, “It would be a good tradition for the Prime Minister to garland the IGP. In the Nepal Army, the Chief of Army Staff is garlanded by the Head of State, and similarly, having the head of government garland the police sends a positive message. The act of garlanding symbolizes a parallel relationship and mutual respect between the police and the Home Secretary.” However, he also noted that currently, the Home Secretary appears to hold extensive authority over police leadership. Former Home Secretary Umesh Mainali emphasized that garlanding the IGP by the Prime Minister would be ideal, and it would have been preferable if the outgoing police chief had garlanded the successor, as in the past.
Former AIG Amar Singh Shah also advocates respecting the tradition where the outgoing IGP garlands the incoming IGP, fostering a spirit of camaraderie and fraternity. Former SP Ravindra Nath Regmi pointed out that the outgoing IGP should take at least a month’s leave to coordinate work and facilitate leadership training for the new IGP during the transition.
(Photos: Nepal Police, Armed Police, Former AIG Narayan Babu Thapa, and Pujan Baral)
