SC to hear PIL against Odisha DGP appointment panel | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to an urgent hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that the Odisha govt was flouting the apex court’s guidelines on DGP appointments by seeking to include an ineligible officer in the panel for selecting the state’s next police chief.The development came a day after the state promoted ADGs Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa to the rank of DGP, ahead of the selection process. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana agreed to list the matter for Wednesday after senior advocate P Chidambaram sought an urgent hearing.The plea assumes significance as incumbent DGP Y B Khurania is set to retire on August 16, leaving the state with little time to complete the selection process.The petition centres on the Supreme Court’s landmark Prakash Singh judgment and subsequent directions governing the appointment of the state police chiefs. The 2006 ruling mandated that the DGP should be chosen from among the three senior-most officers empanelled by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), based on length of service, professional record and experience. The court had also directed that the selected officer be given a minimum two-year tenure, regardless of the date of superannuation.Seeking an urgent listing, Chidambaram alleged that the Odisha govt was attempting to alter the composition of the panel to be sent to the UPSC by including an officer who did not meet the eligibility criteria. “We will list it tomorrow (Wednesday),” the CJI said.During the hearing, Chidambaram submitted that the UPSC had been scheduled to meet on Aug 7 to consider a panel of eligible DGP-rank officers for the Odisha appointment. However, the state allegedly withdrew the list before the meeting. “On August 7, the UPSC was scheduled to meet to select from among the three DGPs. Odisha withdrew the list. They are now making another,” he said, alleging that the state had elevated an ADGP to the rank of DGP, and then included the officer in the revised panel. “They are trying to promote an ADGP, either today or last night, and then smuggle him into the list and get him considered,” he said.The CJI observed that the UPSC was expected to ensure compliance with the court’s earlier directions and intervene if any deviation occurred.Chidambaram referred to earlier instances where the UPSC had approached the apex court over states sending incomplete or allegedly ineligible panels. He said Odisha had first forwarded a panel in April and later withdrawn it. A subsequent list sent in May included three DGPs and eight ADGPs. “On August 7, the UPSC demurred and said, ‘We will only consider the DGP level’,” Chidambaram said, alleging that the state then withdrew the panel around the time of the UPSC meeting and was now “frantically” preparing another panel.He argued that the issue was brought through a PIL because serving officers aspiring to become DGP would be unlikely to challenge the state govt. “No serving officer will file a writ petition,” he said.In May, the state had forwarded a list of 11 IPS officers to the UPSC. Among them, Sudhanshu Sarangi, Susanta Kumar Nath and R P Koche held the DGP rank. Panda and Jethwa were promoted to the rank on Monday, while the remaining officers are ADGPs.
