Punjab may see the third Director General of Police (DGP) in three months. With the current officiating DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyay due for retirement on March 31 and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) finalising the panel of three officers, sans the incumbent, the poll-bound state is expected to get a permanent DGP ahead of elections — a key raised by the opposition with the Election Commission of India (ECI).
UPSC, which held its meeting on Tuesday, has recommended a panel of three officers to the State Government “on the basis of seniority and merit”. Now, the State Government will select one among these as the state’s DGP. It has been learnt that the panel includes the names of 1987-batch IPS officers VK Bhawra and Dinkar Gupta, besides 1988-batch Prabodh Kumar “based on the UPSC criteria of seniority, merit, and six-month tenure”. Interestingly, Chattopadhyay’s name has been missing from the panel.
As of now, Bhawra has emerged as the frontrunner for the post of the DGP of the poll bound state. It has been learnt that Gupta and Prabodh are going on deputation to the Centre. Notably, the then DGP, Dinkar Gupta had gone on a long leave after the change of guard in Punjab in September last. The government had then given the officiating charge to Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota.
As per the procedure, the Punjab Government had earlier sent the names of its 10 senior-most officers to the UPSC. The list included the names of Chattopadhyay, MK Tiwari, Rohit Choudhary, Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, Sanjeev Kalra, Parag Jain, and Barjinder Kumar Uppal, besides those likely in contention.
The State Government had, on December 17, appointed 1986-batch IPS officer Chattopadhyaya as the officiating DGP, replacing Sahota - whose removal the state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu has been demanding ever since his appointment on the top post. When Charanjit Singh Channi took over as the Chief Minister replacing Capt Amarinder Singh, Gupta went on leave. The government did not immediately remove Gupta, but sent a list of 10 officers, including Chattopadhyaya, on September 30 to the UPSC for a panel.
The Government then removed Gupta from the DGP post on October 5. Considering that the post fell vacant on October 5, the UPSC took into account the names of the officers whose more than six-month service is left. As per this criterion, Chattopadhyaya could not make it to the consideration zone, and thus left out.
Meanwhile, the State Government is maintaining a strategic silence on the issue. It has been learnt that the Chief Minister Channi and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu want the incumbent DGP Chattopadhyaya to stay on for two years.