Should Delhi top cop be picked in line with ’06 order? SC to examine in Jan

The 2006 SC order requires that a list of names be sent... according to seniority. The officers must also have at least 6 months’ service left.

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine in January whether the appointment of the Delhi Police commissioner should be in accordance with the top court’s landmark 2006 judgment in the Prakash Singh case, laying down the criteria to select the director general of police (DGP) and affixing a two-year tenure for them.

The Supreme Court. (File)

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha said “we will examine it in January” while hearing an appeal filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) challenging an order passed by the Delhi high court in October 2021, where it dismissed a plea against the appointment of then Delhi Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana. It held that the ruling in the Prakash Singh case is limited to the selection of DGPs of states, and is not applicable in Delhi.

On Friday, advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for CPIL, told the court that though the challenge against Asthana does not survive as he demitted office this July after completing his one-year tenure, the issue of whether Prakash Singh judgment applies to the commissionerate system as well needs to be decided.

“The Delhi high court has taken a view that it does not apply to the appointment of commissioner. This needs to be examined,” Bhushan said. The court posted the matter for hearing in the third week of January.

Asthana, a 1984 Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, was appointed the Delhi Police commissioner on July 27 last year for a one-year period, with just four days remaining for his superannuation as director general of the Border Security Force (BSF).

CPIL challenged this appointment in the Supreme Court in August 2021, citing a violation of the Prakash Singh order, which requires that a panel of names be sent by the states to the Union Public Service Commission, according to their seniority and of officers who have at least six months of service remaining.

Simultaneously, another petition raising the same issue was filed in the Delhi high court that was entertained. The top court directed CPIL to approach the high court in order to get the benefit of the decision.

The plea contended that a high-powered committee comprising the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of Opposition, in a meeting held on May 24, rejected the appointment of Asthana as Central Bureau of Investigation director on technical grounds, and that the same rules should apply in the appointment of Delhi Police commissioner.

During the hearings, the Centre told the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court that the order on a minimum tenure for a state DGP will not be applicable to Delhi.

The Centre also cited a “compelling need” to appoint Asthana in the face of extremely challenging situations in the face of law-and-order issues in the Capital.

The top court on Friday also dealt with separate applications seeking appointment of the DGP in Bihar and Jharkhand. The court directed the UPSC to propose a panel of names for Bihar DGP within a week and directed the Bihar government to act on it by January 2.

However, with regard to Jharkhand DGP, the UPSC had raised certain “defects” in the state’s recommendation of a panel of names. The top court directed the Jharkhand government to sort out the query by December 23 and gave time till January 9 for UPSC to finalize the panel.