Pande will remain DGP: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to issue any direction for setting aside the appointment of Gujarat DGP P C Pande...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to issue any direction for setting aside the appointment of Gujarat DGP P C Pande,the senior-most police officer in the state,who had came under a cloud for his role in the 2002 post-Godhra riots. An appointment of a government servant is the prerogative of the particular government,particularly,when it is a sensitive appointment of Director General of Police, the court observed.

Heading the Bench,Justice Markandeya Katju observed,We,under the doctrine of judicial review,would not extend our hands to upset such an appointment,more particularly,in the factual panorama which is available today. We hold that the present writ petition has become redundant and we dispose it of as such.

The PIL filed in 2006 by Citizens for Justice and Peace,an NGO,had claimed that Pande should not be appointed as DGP as there were several complaints pending against him relating to his role post the Godhra riots. He was was Police Commissioner,Ahmedabad during the 2002 riots.

However,the Bench,also comprising Justice V S Sirpurkar,declined to issue any directions saying it is for the concerned Government. We will not enter the fact finding exercise.

The apex court rejected the argument of the NGO that if Pande continues in post,he may be in a position to influence the courts where the trial against the riot accused was in progress. We do not think that such a thing can be said either regarding Pandey or even the trial courts in Gujarat. We do not have any reasons to believe that Pandey,in his remaining tenure of about three months,would take any such steps.

We do not think that the trial courts in Gujarat are capable of being pressured in the manner expressed in the writ petition, the apex court observed. Also taking into account that Pande was due to retire on March 31,2009,it felt the PIL had become redundant.

On Monday,the Bench had reserved its order saying that since Pande was going to retire shortly,the NGO would be at liberty to approach the court again in case there is any interference by him in the investigations.