SC dismisses appeals against appointment of DGP in Punjab

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed appeals filed against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order upholding the appointment of Dinkar Gupta as the Director General of Police, Punjab.

The bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna, and BR Gavai dismissed the appeals filed by IPS Officers Siddharth Chattopadhyay and Mohammad Mustafa.

Chattopadhyay and Mustafa had challenged the February 7, 2019 order appointing senior IPS officer Gupta as Punjab DGP.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 21, 2020, had stayed the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had set aside the appointment of Gupta as the Punjab police chief.

The order of CAT had come on an appeal by Mustafa and Chattopadhyaya, who had challenged Gupta's appointment on the grounds that they were ignored despite being senior to Gupta.

Mustafa is a 1985 batch officer, Chattopadhyaya is a 1986 batch officer while Gupta is a 1987 batch officer.

In 2019, Gupta was appointed the DGP and superseded five senior officers, including Mustafa and Chattopadhyaya.

Mustafa and Chattopadhyaya opposed the contention of the empanelment committee, which had sent a report to the UPSC, saying the officers lacked experience in core policing areas.

( With inputs from ANI )

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