Another state has got enmeshed in a legal battle over the appointment of a regular DGP. This time, it is West Bengal. The matter was brought to the court by senior IPS officer Dr Rajesh Kumar (IPS:1990:WB), who moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), challenging the Union Public Service Commission’s decision to exclude him and two other senior-most officers—Rajiv Kumar (IPS:1989:UP) and Ranvir Kumar (IPS:1990:WB)—from the panel for appointment as a regular DGP. Currently, Rajiv Kumar, a close confidante of the Bengal CM, is serving as the acting DGP.
Dr Kumar contends that the exclusion of their names from the panel is a violation of the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India (2006).
The matter of fact is that when the vacancy for the DGP post arose on December 27, 2023, Kumar and the two other senior officers had more than six months of residual service remaining, fulfilling the mandatory requirement. The Mamata Banerjee government sent a panel of 10 eligible IPS officers to the UPSC in July 2025, each of whom had more than six months of service left. But when the meeting was held on October 30, 2025, for finalising the panel, these three officers did not have six months of service left.
The UPSC claims to have excluded their names on this ground. Now, Kumar alleges that the decision was arbitrary and discriminatory.
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