Kolkata: The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear Tuesday the Union Public Service Commission’s petition challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s order directing the Mamata Banerjee government to complete the recruitment process of the new DGP by January 31.
Since the legal complications in the matter are ongoing, even as the state government had named Peeyush Pandey as Rajeev Kumar’s successor, Pandey was appointed as an acting DGP, not as a permanent DGP.
All eyes will be on the proceedings in the matter at the Delhi High Court since the court’s order will determine whether West Bengal will be going for the crucial Assembly elections later this year with an acting or permanent DGP.
On January 21, the CAT directed the West Bengal government to send proposals by January 23 to the UPSC for empanelment to decide the appointment of the new DGP, so that the entire process could be completed by January 31.
Accordingly, the state government sent the names of eight serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to the UPSC for panel enlistment last week.
The eight names also included Rajeev Kumar, and in his case, the state government has sought an extension of service to give him the chair of DGP.
When matters over the appointment of the new DGP of West Bengal seemed to have settled down, fresh complications arose with UPSC challenging the CAT order.
As per protocol, the state government is supposed to send a list of serving IPS officers in the state for appointment to the post of DGP, and the UPSC finally clears the appointment from the list furnished by the state government.
Controversies, however, erupted after the UPSC returned the list of Indian Police Service officers recommended by the West Bengal government for the selection of any one from the list as the new DGP.
The Director (All India Service) of the UPSC, Nand Kishor Kumar, also advised the 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, from the chair of DGP in December 2023.
Instead of sending a panel of three IPS officers — to succeed Malviya — to the UPSC for clearance, the state government chose to appoint Rajeev Kumar as the Acting Director General of Police.
Although the state government has recently sent the recommended panel of IPS officers as his successor, the UPSC declined to accept it because, 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, and the state government did not follow the procedure.
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 Rajeev Kumar’s predecessor, Manoj Malviya, who retired in December 2023.
