Mamata Banerjee’s government came under fire from the Supreme Court for demanding full powers in the appointment of the DG of the state police. Supreme Court justices have questioned why the state has repeatedly “abused” the petition.
The state government sought the right to appoint DGs without consulting the central government’s recruitment agency UPSC. The apex court today dismissed the state government’s plea. Justice El Nageshwar Rao asked the state government, “Why are you repeatedly raising this issue and wasting time? Isn’t that an abuse of the legal process? “
In 2006, the Supreme Court set rules for the appointment of a state police DG in the Prakash Singh case. One of the seven guidelines in that judgment was that the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) would prepare a list of three IPS officers from among the qualified police officers in terms of experience, work skills, tenure and send it to the state government. These officers were required to serve at least two years. The Chief Minister was directed to appoint one of them.
According to government sources, this time during Birendra’s retirement from the post of DG, the state administration had a disagreement with the UPSC over this issue. The UPSC did not send the list of names of the three to the state as of the time. As a result, after the retirement of Birendra, Manoj Malviya, the oldest among the IPS, has been given the responsibility of DG. At the same time, the West Bengal government filed a petition in the Supreme Court, saying that matters relating to the police were under the jurisdiction of the state in the constitution. As a result, the state should be given all the power regarding the appointment of DG. It is not possible for UPSC to verify the skills of any officer in the police force. The UPSC has not been given this power in the constitution either. It is up to the state government to decide which officer is eligible for the post of DG.
Raising the issue today, state lawyer Siddhartha Luthra, Justice Rao said, “We would not have listened to any such case.” Now the state government is filing all these cases. Why are you wasting time raising this issue again and again? On the one hand, you said, urgent matters like bail are not heard in the court, on the other hand, you are filing all these cases! Isn’t this an abuse of legal process? ”The state government argued that empowering the central government agency UPSC to appoint DGs was a blow to the federal structure. The state also argued that the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Prakash Singh case was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court did not accept the state’s argument. The Supreme Court ruled with the opinion of all the states. On the contrary, West Bengal has raised objections on the same issue before.
Lawyer Harish Salve filed a lawsuit alleging that many states have not yet implemented the Supreme Court’s ruling on the appointment of top police officers. At the request of the state’s attorney, the court said the state would be given an opportunity to question the matter during a hearing in October.
