Odisha is without a new director general of police (DGP) even four months after the state government initiated the selection process which is currently entangled in procedural deadlocks, integrity concerns, last-minute promotions and judicial scrutiny. The incumbent YB Khurania is set to retire on August 16.
In April this year, the state government submitted a panel of three DGP-ranked officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): Dr Sudhanshu Sarangi (1990 batch), Susanta Kumar Nath (1993 batch) and RP Koche(1993 batch). In May, the state government added eight more ADG-ranked officers’ names.
The UPSC’s empanelment committee was expected to shortlist three officers, from whom the state government will choose the next DGP under guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in its 2006 Prakash Singh judgment.
The guidelines require the state to choose its police chief from among the three senior-most officers empanelled by the UPSC, based on length of service, service record and relevant experience. An officer must also have at least six months of residual service.
On August 7, when the UPSC was supposed to decide on the panel, the state government withheld the integrity certificate of Susanta Kumar Nath, a DGP-ranked officer who heads the prisons department.
{{/usCountry}}On August 7, when the UPSC was supposed to decide on the panel, the state government withheld the integrity certificate of Susanta Kumar Nath, a DGP-ranked officer who heads the prisons department.
{{/usCountry}}A home department official aware of the development said Nath faced adverse feedback from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over a sub-inspector recruitment examination controversy when he was the chairman of the Odisha Police Recruitment Board. The examination was cancelled following allegations of a question-paper leak and the CBI subsequently investigated the matter.
The government withdrew its original proposal from the UPSC after it raised questions about including ADGP-rank officers in the panel. Under the UPSC guidelines, officers below the DG rank can be considered only when there are not enough eligible DG-rank officers.
On August 10, the state government promoted Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa from additional DGP rank to DGP rank, to make them eligible for UPSC consideration. Panda heads anti-Maoist operations and Jethwa is the director of vigilance.
The move changed the seniority list and officials said it aimed at the state government submitting a revised proposal to the UPSC.
A public interest litigation filed in the Supreme Court argued that promoting ADGPs and seeking their inclusion could undermine the requirement that the UPSC consider the senior-most eligible officers already in the zone of consideration.
The officials said that the UPSC is expected to consider the state government’s revised list on Thursday. The state government can select one of the shortlisted officers as Odisha’s next police chief.
According to state government officials the revised list includes 1990-batch IPS officer Sudhanshu Sarangi, 1993-batch IPS officer RP Koche, and 1994-batch officers Sanjeeb Panda and Yashwant Jethwa.
Former Mumbai police commissioner and Biju Janata Dal leader Arup Patnaik said the uncertainty reflected the unusually powerful position of the DGP.
“The post of DGP is exceptionally powerful because the entire police force functions under the DGP,” said Patnaik.
“Chief ministers therefore rarely give up control of the home department and often want a police chief they can work with. The empanelment process gives governments considerable influence because only officers empanelled by the Union Home Ministry can be considered by the UPSC. The UPSC recommends three names, but the final choice is made by the state government,” Patnaik said.