February 15, 2019:
Prakash Singh, the former UP Director General of Police (DGP) credited with catalyzing landmark Police reforms in the country, has moved the Supreme Court to question their implementation by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Singh claims the commission has misinterpreted the 2006 Supreme Court judgment, reiterated by the court last July, laying down the reforms.
According to Singh, the court’s directive that DGPs should have a fixed tenure of two years has led the UPSC to exclude senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers close to retirement from the promotion exercise.
This, even though the 2006 judgment clearly states that the tenure should be two years long irrespective of a candidate’s date of retirement.
When the UPSC shortlisted three candidates each for selection as Punjab and Bihar DGPs last year, it is believed to have only chosen IPS officers of the 1987 batch, superseding several senior officers with less than two years of service left. It is in this light that Singh has moved the apex court.
Leaving out these officers because of the date of retirement “was unfair”, Singh has argued in his application.
“Such a process would lead to the claims of officers [with] less than two years of service being completely ignored,” he adds.
“This would result in demoralization and frustration among a large number of officers and they would be left with two unenviable options — either suffer the humiliation of serving under an officer junior to them or resign and go home.”
Singh said, “The Supreme Court had only said that DGPs should have a fixed tenure of two years, and officers should be selected by the UPSC on the basis of their length of service, good record and experience."
He added,"It never said that officers should have two years left before retirement [for selection]. It is very unfair to those who are not being considered."
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