DGP appointment: CAT issues notice to Punjab govt, UPSC

The UPSC has formulated a panel on the basis of incomplete and deficient information supplied by Punjab government.

Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Chandigarh, on Tuesday issued notices to Punjab government, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), state police chief Dinkar Gupta and former DGP Suresh Arora seeking their reply on two separate petitions challenging the appointment of Gupta as Punjab DGP.

A 1985-batch IPS officer Mohammad Mustafa and 1986-batch Punjab Cadre IPS officer Siddarth Chattopadhyaya, have separately moved the CAT. Chattopadhyaya, in his petition, has urged the CAT to summon the entire record of the proceedings of UPSC meeting. He is senior to Gupta, M K Tiwari and V K Bhawra — three names cleared by the UPSC, he has mentioned. “…both their (Arora and Gupta) names surface in the report filed before the Hon’ble High Court… pertaining to the nexus between drug traffickers and Law Enforcement agencies…,” the petition reads.

The petition further adds that relevant adverse material regarding Gupta and Tiwari was not brought to the notice of UPSC by the Punjab government. It has also not been pointed out to the UPSC that Gupta had been named in the Civil Miscellaneous application of 2018, as having links with drug traffickers and benami property. Thus the UPSC has formulated a panel on the basis of incomplete and deficient information supplied by Punjab government.

The petitioner has argued that his non-empanelment by the UPSC, is not only blatant instance of official arbitrariness but also imperils his reputation, protected under Article 21 of the Constitution, as he has been superseded by three officers junior to him which questions his merit and integrity.