In order to expedite the appointment of a new DGP for Tamil Nadu, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is going to convene the Empanelment Committee Meeting (ECM) on May 11. The commission will shortlist three names of top-ranking IPS officers from the state to be appointed as head of the state police force. The Chief Secretary and Home Secretary would represent the state in the ECM.
As the new government is likely to be installed in the second week of this month, the new DGP will be appointed by the newly elected government.
As per the Supreme Court’s guidelines, the new DGP will have a minimum two-year tenure irrespective of the date of superannuation.
It was on February 12 when the Supreme Court directed the state government and the UPSC to complete the process of appointing a regular DGP within three weeks.
But the ECM was deferred on two earlier occasions. While the first meeting, scheduled on March 20, was postponed due to administrative reasons, the second one, called on April 23, could not be held as it coincided with the polling day for Assembly elections in the State.
Once the ECM takes place, the UPSC will forward a panel of three officers to the state government to choose one of them for the top post.
The senior-most among the officers included in the panel for consideration is Seema Agarwal (IPS:1990:TN). However, she is due to retire next month, but, as per norms, the minimum residual service should be six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy for the DGP post, which is August 30, 2025, in this case.
Apart from Agarwal, others in contention are Rajeev Kumar (IPS:1992:TN), the current incumbent Sandeep Rai Rathore (IPS:1992:TN), K. Vanni Perumal (IPS:1992:TN), Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal (IPS:1994:TN), and G. Venkatraman (IPS:1994:TN). Venkatraman was Tamil Nadu’s DGP in-charge till he was replaced with Rathore by the EC after the announcement of assembly polls.
Get Latest Updates