Supreme Court issues notices to 8 states on appointment of acting DGPs

The report had said while Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, UP and Punjab have had such temporary DGPs for more than a year, Uttarakhand, Odisha and West Bengal had them for months. Odisha has since appointed 1990-batch IPS officer Y B Khurania as regular DGP and he took charge in August. Jharkhand, which then had a regular DGP, appointed an acting DGP in July.

These appointments are typically made by handing over the additional charge of the police chief’s post to a DG rank officer in the state holding some other responsibility. The apex court has clearly said no temporary or ad hoc appointments of police chiefs must be made, barring exceptional circumstances. UPSC guidelines say states must send a list of eligible officers, with at least three senior-most officers, to the Commission six months before the retirement of the incumbent DGP.

Following The Indian Express report, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sent a letter to all states to comply with SC guidelines on DGP appointments. The SC issued notices to the states and centre while considering a petition filed by lawyer Savitri Pandey. The petition makes a due mention of the Indian Express report.

“It is very essential for efficient maintenance of law and order that regular DGs are appointed. The trend of appointing temporary DGs has thrown law and order in various states off the rails be it UP or West Bengal. This trend is in violation of not only the Prakash Singh judgment but also various subsequent SC orders,” Pandey told The Indian Express.

Pandey’s petition has prayed for issuance of directions to the concerned states and the Centre for compliance with the Prakash Singh judgment; issuance of direction to the defaulting states that they must follow SC directions and UPSC guidelines on appointment of regular DGPs with a tenure of two years; and issuance of further directions to the defaulting states not to appoint any ‘acting DGP’.

Sources said recently Uttarakhand and Jharkhand have sent a panel of three names to the UPSC for appointment as regular DGPs. Final appointment, however, is yet to be made.

The case of UP is special. It has had three “acting DGPs” in succession since May, 2022. In January, the state got its fourth DGP in Prashant Kumar. After removing then DGP, 1987-batch IPS officer Mukul Goel, for “lack of interest towards work”, the state government appointed 1988 batch IPS officer Devendra Singh Chauhan as acting DG. Following his retirement on March 31, 2022, 1988 batch IPS officer Raj Kumar Vishwakarma was made acting DG. Then on May 31, upon retirement, Vishwakarma was replaced by Vijay Kumar as acting DG. Vijay Kumar had superseded his senior Anand Kumar, and retired on January 31.