The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has raised questions over the list of IPS officers sent by the Jharkhand government for the appointment of a regular Director General of Police (DGP). The entire issue cropped up after the state government included the name of former DGP Ajay Kumar Singh in its list of four IPS officers sent to the UPSC for shortlisting.
A 1989 batch IPS officer, Ajay Kumar Singh, had been appointed as a regular DGP in 2023 for a two-year term but was replaced by his junior Anurag Gupta, a 1990 batch IPS officer, as an acting DGP before the expiry of his tenure.
Now, the UPSC has issued notice to the state government asking for explanation as to under which circumstances Ajay Kumar Singh was replaced mid way by an acting DGP. The UPSC has also raised the issue as to why the Supreme Court’s directive given in the Prakash Singh vs the Union of India case of 2006 was not implemented. The apex court had ruled that a state government must appoint a DGP for a fixed two-year term.
Interestingly, the Jharkhand government is already facing contempt charges for the same reason in the Supreme Court. The contempt petition says that Gupta was appointed on an ad-hoc basis in contravention of the apex court judgment which laid down procedures for the appointment of the DGPs in States. It was this case that opened a Pandora box with the apex court issuing notices to eight states for preferring to have acting DGPs instead of appointing the regular ones.
