Centre has given three-month extension to Punjab top cop Suresh Arora, who was scheduled to retire on September 30. He will continue as the state Director General of Police till December.
Notably, the Capt Amarinder Singh led State Government had sought one year extension o Arora’s tenure.
The orders stated that the Central Government’s appointment committee has approved the proposal of the Union Home Ministry to provide a three-month extension to Arora.
The file seeking an extension for the 1982-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Department of Personnel and Training in August.
The move comes amid confusion over the appointment of the next DGP, especially in the wake of a recent Supreme Court judgment directing the states to send a panel of senior officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) which will shortlist three officers of whom the state will select the top cop.
Capt Amarinder has described the SC order, to allow the UPSC to constitute a panel of IPS officers to select state’s DGP, as an “infringement on the state’s rights”.
On August 10, the State Government had said that it would file a review petition against the SC order that also binds the states to send names of senior police officials to UPSC three months before the post of DGP gets vacant.
A senior state government official said that the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder had also taken up the issue of Arora’s extension during his meetings with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this week.
Arora assumed charge as DGP on October 25, 2015, during the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government. Capt Amarinder, who took over as the Chief Minister in March 2017, had also showed trust in Arora.
Though it is exactly not clear on what grounds the Punjab Government has sought extension in Arora’s tenure, officials say that the state has sought his “urgent requirement” in view of the recent pro-Khalistan activities.
Notably, the Centre’s death-cum-retirement benefit rules for civil servants only prescribe a three-month extension for officials other than chief, home and defence secretaries.
In the recently-concluded Vidhan Sabha session, the State Government had amended the Punjab Police Act, authorising a committee led by the Chief Secretary to form a panel of three officials eligible for the post of DGP. The amendments authorise the state to select one officer from the panel.