Kolkata, Jan 21 The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the West Bengal government to send to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) the names for empanelment to select the new Director General of Police (DGP) by January 23.
Based on the empanelment proposals sent by the state government, the UPSC will have to notify the panel by January 28 and declare the name of the new state police chief.
Currently, West Bengal Police does not have any fulltime DGP. Acting DGP Rajeev Kumar is slated to retire on January 31.
As per protocol, the state government is supposed to send a list of three serving IPS officers in the state for appointment in the post of DGP, and the UPSC finally clears the appointment for one among the three officers.
Controversies started shrouding the appointment of a new DGP earlier this month, with the UPSC returning the list of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers recommended by the West Bengal government for the selection of the new DGP.
The UPSC's Director, All India Services, Nand Kishor Kumar, also advised West Bengal Chief Secretary, Nandini Chakraborty, to approach the Supreme Court and get the necessary clearance for the appointment of Rajeev Kumar's successor.
The entire complication has its roots in the retirement of Rajeev Kumar's predecessor, Manoj Malviya, as DGP in December 2023. Instead of sending the panel of three IPS officers then as Malviya's successor, the state government chose to appoint Rajeev Kumar as the acting Director General of Police.
Although the state government had recently sent the recommended panel of IPS officers as his successor, the UPSC declined to accept it on grounds that as per a Supreme Court order in July 2018, any state government should send the recommended panel of IPS officers for appointment as the new state DGP at least three months before the retirement of the sitting DGP, the procedure was not followed by the West Bengal government in this case.
Hence, going by that logic, the West Bengal government should have sent the recommended panel in September 2023, that is, three months before the retirement of Malviya.
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