Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police force does not have a permanent Director General for months. over 3 lakh strong force – the Largest in the world – headed by a caretaker Director General of Police (DGP) for more than nine months now.
With no movement in the process of appointing a permanent DGP, the opposition has also raised this issue time and again. Leader of Opposition in UP Assembly Akhilesh Yadav The government recently asked how it can control crime in the state when it has failed to appoint a permanent DGP.
The state government and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) have been at loggerheads over the appointment of the DGP ever since the former allegedly removed 1987-batch IPS officer Mukul Goyal from the post in May last year. “Dereliction of official duty,” “lack of interest in departmental work” and laziness. Acting DGP DS Chauhan to retire on March 31 Supreme Court guidelines Till then the government should appoint a permanent DGP on this issue.
If it fails to do so, it may appoint another caretaker DGP or hand over the charge to a senior officer till the appointment is made. However, recent news reports have speculated that the acting DGP may be given an extension.
to the police The permanent DGP can be found after the state government sends the names of IPS officers eligible for the post to the UPSC, which selects a panel of three of them for the state.
According to home ministry guidelinesAn officer needs to complete 30 years of service to be considered for the post of DGP.
last September, Government Sent a list of around 38 IPS officers to UPSC for consideration. However, the UPSC sent a query to the government, asking why Goyal was removed in the first place and sought a list of all officers who were eligible for the post till May 2022 – when the DGP was removed.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior official with knowledge of the development said that when the government recommended the names, it sent a list of all IPS officers who had completed 30 years in service and six months till September 1, 2022. The service was left.
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‘List of Officers Retiring in January, February 2023’
However, this did not include some senior IPS officers such as Gopal Meena and Rajendra Pal Singh, who were due to retire in January and February 2023 respectively, government sources told ThePrint.
“The UPSC asked the government to send the names of all officers who had completed 30 years in service by May 2022, saying the cut-off month (for consideration for the post) would be May 2022 when Goyal was removed from office. Top job,” the official said.
While news reports said the government had sent a reply to the UPSC about the reasons for Goyal’s removal, it is yet to send the names of police officers eligible for the post to the UPSC for the second time.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior official said that further correspondence is yet to be done on the issue.
Chouhan will retire on March 31
Speculation continues in the circles of the UP Police regarding the course of action. DGP Chauhan Some former DGPs ThePrint spoke to who got extension said that while IPS officers can be given extension, extension of acting DGP is “unheard of”.
Speaking to ThePrint, former UP DGP Sulkhan Singh reiterated that permanent or officiating DGPs are extended by the central government and there are many such examples.
“Extension has nothing to do with a post. An IPS officer can be given extension and it has been done many times in the past. The state government sends the recommendation after which the central government issues the final order. In fact The central government can give extension on its own even without any recommendation from the state government,” he told ThePrint.
Prakash Singh, former DGP of UP and Assam and former DG of BSF petition The Supreme Court issued detailed guidelines for the appointment of a DGP, telling ThePrint that the extension of a DGP, whether permanent or acting, requires the permission of the central government. However, he added that the concept of an acting or officiating DGP has been rejected by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh judgment, and the extension of an acting DGP is unheard of.
“I have not heard of any extension being given to the acting DGP, though several permanent DGPs have been given extensions. Extension of a DGP is subject to approval by the Central Government. These reports about the extension of the current acting DGP of UP are mostly speculations and strictly speaking, the government should send a fresh panel of officers to UPSC for promotion to the post of DGP,” he said.
Singh said that on the dispute DGP appointment Last year it was because the government wanted to regularize the officiating DGPs and the UPSC raised some issues and sought clarification from the state on the issue.
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alternatives to government
Amidst speculation about an extension for the acting DGP, some sources said it is not impossible and the IPS officer can be given an extension if the central government wants.
“It depends on the central government. If the central government agrees to such a proposal of the state, then the extension can be given. However, it is not clear whether a proposal to this effect has been sent by UP to the central government,” said a senior state government official.
Another former DGP said that if the UP government goes by the rules, it will have to send a fresh list of all IPS officers who have completed 30 years of service and have six months of tenure left, before retirement. But on March 31, the UPSC was handed over to the current acting DGP Chauhan.
“The UPSC will then select three persons from the list and send it to the government and the state will have to select from that panel,” he added.
If the government sends a list of officers eligible for the post to the UPSC in March, former DGP Goyal, DG (Prisons) Anand Kumar and IPS Vijay Kumar will be frontrunners for the post as per their seniority. ips gradation list shows.
However, government sources told ThePrint that Goyal’s chances are really slim, given how he was removed from his post last year. He said that if there is no decision by March 31, the government will have to hand over the charge to a senior officer or appoint another caretaker DGP. Describing the situation as unfortunate, Prakash Singh said the government should try to expedite the process so that Chouhan’s appointment could be made before his retirement.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)