SC says states duck Prakash Singh ruling, reserves order on Odisha DGP plea
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said most states tend not to follow its judgment in the Prakash Singh case and want a police chief of their choosing. It reserved its order on pleas over the Odisha government's process for selecting its director general of police.
"The state would like to derail the appointment process and do not want to follow the Prakash Singh (judgment)... they want to have the DGP of their choice," Chief Justice Surya Kant said. Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana were on the bench.
The Chief Justice said the court would examine whether the DGP appointments in Odisha and Jharkhand followed the directions in the 2006 verdict. The bench also pulled up the UPSC for a casual approach.
"The casual approach is reflected everywhere, and you are in a position of trust conferred by this court," the CJI said. "This is all just an eyewash."
The pleas alleged that Odisha sought to include a relatively junior officer in the zone of consideration. The exclusion of senior IPS officer Sushant Kumar Nath also came up.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the CBI had informed the state on August 4. Mr Nath "may be required to be examined" in a police recruitment examination case, he said. Mr Nath headed the Odisha Police Recruitment Board when the examination was conducted.
The state withheld his integrity certificate and sent a revised proposal with certificates for 10 officers. Senior advocate Karuna Nundy, appearing for Mr Nath, said no FIR names him as an accused.
The court was told that the Home Ministry cleared two temporary ex-cadre posts in the DGP grade on August 9. Odisha appointed Vinaytosh Mishra as acting DGP after Y B Khurania retired on August 16.
(With inputs from PTI)
