PIL filed in Madras HC against ad-hoc appointment of Tamil Nadu DGP

Chennai, Sep 5 A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Madras High Court challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to appoint G. Venkatraman as the in-charge Director General of Police, despite several other senior officers being eligible for regular appointment to the post.

The petition, filed by R. Varadaraj, 69, a retired police inspector-turned-advocate and President of Nethaji Makkal Katchi, is scheduled to be heard by a division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan on Monday.

Varadaraj, who served for 25 years in the Fingerprint Bureau before opting for voluntary retirement in 2005, argued that the government had flouted binding directives of the Supreme Court issued in the landmark Prakash Singh case of 2006. The apex court had mandated that states must forward the names of all eligible DGP-rank officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which would then prepare a panel of three meritorious officers. The state government was required to appoint one from the panel, ensuring a fixed tenure of two years.

According to the petitioner, Tamil Nadu should have sent the list to the UPSC by May 2025, three months before the retirement of former DGP Shankar Jiwal on August 31.

However, the list was not forwarded on time, resulting in what he termed an "ad-hoc and untenable" appointment.

Significantly, the petitioner claimed that Venkatraman, who was serving as DGP, Administration, was himself responsible for preparing and forwarding the list to the Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary, but ended up being chosen for the top post instead. This, he alleged, reeked of political expediency.

The PIL also expressed concern that the ad-hoc appointment, coming ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, could compromise the impartiality of the police force. The petitioner urged the court to quash the Home Secretary’s notification dated August 31, appointing Venkatraman and to direct the government to initiate the proper UPSC-led process for appointing a regular DGP.

Until then, Varadaraj requested that one among the three senior-most officers in the DGP cadre be allowed to hold charge, and sought an interim order restraining Venkatraman from occupying the post pending the outcome of the case.

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