UPSC moves to appoint regular Punjab DGP, seeks panel within 10 days

Chandigarh: Acting on Supreme Court's Feb 5 directions, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has asked Punjab govt to send a proposal of eligible officers to be considered by its empanelment committee for the regular appointment of the DGP in the state.The apex court had slammed the practice of some states having acting DGPs and directed the UPSC to act against them.
Gaurav Yadav, a 1992-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Punjab cadre, was appointed as acting DGP in July 2022 by the AAP-led govt, which stormed to power earlier that year in March, superseding several senior officers. He has been holding the post for over three years and seven months now. In its Feb 18 letter to the Punjab chief secretary, the UPSC, referring to the Supreme Court Feb 5 directions, Sept 2006 judgment in the Prakash Singh case, and SC orders dated July 3, 2018, requested Punjab to send the complete proposal within 10 days. The Punjab home department has since asked the office of the DGP to send a panel of eligible officers since it has "records of the officers." Punjab currently has a top-heavy police force with 17 DGP-rank officers. Of the two seniormost IPS officers of Punjab cadre, 1989-batch officer Sanjeev Kalra, who is due to retire on Feb 28, is likely out of contention due to the six-month service-left rule for consideration as head of the police force. Parag Jain, who is serving as RAW chief on central deputation, is unlikely to return for state post. There are four 1992-batch IPS officers, including Yadav. The other three DGP-rank officers are Sharad Satya Chauhan, Harpreet Singh Sidhu, and Kuldeep Singh. Despite the initial controversy over his appointment, Yadav remains a frontrunner for the permanent post. The UPSC empanelment committee is likely to select three candidates based on seniority, experience, and service records. Punjab will then choose one of them as the DGP. The committee consists of UPSC chairman or a member acting as chairman, Union home secretary or his nominee not below the rank of special secretary to the Union govt, head of the central police organisation nominated by the MHA who is not from the same state cadre for which the selection is made, the chief secretary of the state govt, and the DGP. As acting DGP and one of the contenders, Yadav is unlikely to be a member of the committee. Earlier this month, the SC allowed Tamil Nadu to appoint an officer of equal or higher rank to the DGP as a member of the selection committee since the acting DGP of the state was one of the candidates for the post of the DGP. In June 2023, the Punjab assembly passed The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill 2023 with an aim to circumvent the Supreme Court-mandated UPSC procedure for selecting the DGP with a state-controlled seven-member empanelment committee. The bill, an official said, was lying with the President after being referred by the Governor. The UPSC letter to Punjab cited the Supreme Court's warning that if the states fail to submit timely proposals, the UPSC is authorised to move an application before the court for enforcement with "necessary consequences" for those responsible for the delay. The UPSC said it was considering the date of occurrence of vacancy as Feb 5, the date of the judgment of the Supreme Court. MSID:: 128754447 413 |