The Supreme Court has directed the Union Public Service Commission and the Jharkhand Public Service Commission to file reply by three weeks on a petition alleging that they violated the Supreme Court order that fixed the tenure of the Director General of Police to two years.
A three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Hrishikesh Roy passed the order on Wednesday on a PIL filed by Rajesh Kumar through Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, stating that UPSC failed to form a panel for the selection of new DGP.
The Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the appointment of AdHoc DGP MV Rao, made by the Jharkhand Government on March 16, 2020, was impermissible, as per the directions laid down by the apex court in the Prakash Singh order, regarding the process for appointment of DGP.
“The DGPs of the State shall be selected by the State Government from among the three senior-most officers of the Department, who have been impaneled for promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience for heading the police force,” the Supreme Court had noted in the Prakash Singh verdict.
“Once he has been selected for the job, he should have a minimum tenure of at least two years, irrespective of his date of superannuation,” the apex court had added.