Ex-IPS officer Prakash Singh approaches apex court against two-year service clause
Even as the Haryana government is waiting for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to shortlist a panel of three IPS officers for selecting the director general of police (DGP), retired IPS officer Prakash Singh has filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking modification of the court’s July 2018 directions, stating that only those persons should be considered for the post who have a minimum two years of service left.
The Tamil Nadu government has also filed a similar application praying for modification of the apex court orders to enable the state government to consider IPS officers who have one year of service left for the job of the state police chief.
The apex court in its July 3, 2018 order had said that its direction regarding the appointment of DGP should be considered by the UPSC to mean “that persons are to be empanelled, as far as practicable, from amongst the people within the zone of consideration who have got clear two years of service. Merit and seniority should be given due weightage.” Prakash Singh, a retired IPS officer, is the original petitioner in the matter which led to the landmark apex court judgment on police reforms. His counsel, Rohit Kumar Singh said the interlocutory application filed by Singh is yet to be listed.
Haryana officers’ empanelment to be affected
The applications filed by Singh and Tamil Nadu assumes significance since four out of nine Haryana IPS officers in the zone of consideration for empanelment in the rank of director general have less than two years of service left and thus would be overlooked by the committee comprising UPSC, central government and Haryana government representatives for empanelling the officers. The interim DGP, KP Singh (1985 batch) has 17 months of service left, BK Sinha (1986 batch) has eight months, PR Deo (1986 batch) has 20 months and KK Mishra (1987 batch) has 17 months of service left.
The apex court in its 2006 order had said that director general of police should be selected on the basis of length of service, good record and range of experience for heading the police force. And, 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 in July 2018 further said that an endeavour has to be made to see that the person appointed as the DGP continues despite his date of superannuation. However, the extended term beyond the date of superannuation should be a reasonable period. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government in its application has said that the two-year service requirement will put them in a disadvantageous position since it will be unable to utilise the services of senior and experienced officers to head the police force. It will also cause a loss of morale, unrest and disharmony among officers if a person who is far junior is posted a head of the police force.
EARLIER, THE TAMIL NADU GOVT HAD ALSO FILED A SIMILAR APPLICATION SO THAT IT COULD CONSIDER IPS OFFICERS WHO HAVE ONE YEAR OF SERVICE LEFT