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Delhi assembly passes resolution against Rakesh Asthana's appointment as top cop
Delhi assembly was told that Rakesh Asthana's appointment is in contravention to a 2019 Supreme Court ruling in case of director general-level officers.
Delhi assembly passed a resolution against the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi Police commissioner and asked the Union ministry of home affairs on Thursday to reverse the decision.
The ministry of home affairs controls police in the Union territory of Delhi.
Rakesh Asthana was handed over the top post of Delhi Police on Tuesday, three days before the 1984-batch IPS officer from the Gujarat cadre was to retire as the director-general of Border Security Force (BSF).
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sanjeev Jha told the Delhi assembly that Rakesh Asthana's appointment as Delhi Police commissioner was in contravention of a Supreme Court ruling as should qualify as a "contempt of court."
Senior AAP leader and Delhi's health minister Satyender Jain echoed Jha and told the Delhi assembly that there should be at least six months of service left in the tenure of an officer appointed at the rank of the director-general.
"The Supreme Court gave the ruling that there should be six months' tenure left in the appointment of DG level, but Rakesh Asthana only had 4 days of tenure left," AAP tweeted from its official Twitter handle quoting Jain as speaking in the Delhi assembly.
The Supreme Court had in 2019 ruled that only officers who have at least six months of service left before their superannuation should be considered for the post of director-general of police.
Rakesh Asthana, who was due to retire on July 31, has been given a year-long extension.
Taking a swipe at the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, Jain said, "The BJP wants to say that all the commissioners appointed by the Modi government so far were useless, and for the first time in 7 years, they have brought a good officer."
"PM Modi's blue-eyed boy was appointed 4 days before his retirement with 1 year extension. PM has brought a henchman on a "special mission" to destabilize Delhi," Jha was quoted as saying by AAP on its Twitter post.
AAP MLA Bhupinder Singh Joon said, “If the Union government does not consider the post of director general of police as equivalent to commissioner of Delhi Police, it is a demotion for Asthana who already served as director general of BSF. If the post of police commissioner of Delhi is similar to that of a DGP, the appointment it is a clear violation of the SC order.”
Rakesh Asthana, during his tenure as the special director of CBI, was embroiled in a spat with the then director of the central probe agency, Alok Verma, with both of them levelling allegations of corruption against each other. Both were moved out of the CBI in 2019.
Ashthana also served as the police commissioner of Vadodara when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat.
