Kolkata, Jan 6 (PTI) The appointment of the new director general of police of West Bengal has hit a hurdle following the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) returning the panel it received from the state government, citing procedural delay in the submission of proposals, an official said on Tuesday.
The development comes at a critical time, as the tenure of the incumbent DGP Rajeev Kumar will come to an end on January 31.
“The state government had proposed an Empanelment Committee Meeting (ECM) to select a new DGP or head of the police force. However, the UPSC returned the proposal citing procedural irregularities and delay in the submission of the panel,” the official spoke to PTI on condition of anonymity.
While the rules mandate that a proposal should be made three months before a vacancy arises, the West Bengal government sent the proposition 18 months after it.
According to the rule for appointing a DGP, the state government sends a list of eligible IPS officers to the UPSC’s Empanelment Committee three months before the incumbent’s retirement. The Committee then shortlists three (in some cases, two) names and forwards it to the state. The state government appoints one of them as the DGP.
“A list of eligible officers had been sent to the UPSC in advance, but the Commission did not clear the proposal,” the official added.
According to the bureaucrat, the West Bengal government had written to the UPSC on July 16 and July 23 last year, seeking to initiate the process for preparing a panel for the DGP post.
The vacancy arose following the retirement of Manoj Malviya on December 27, 2023, after which Rajeev Kumar was appointed as acting DGP.
The UPSC, however, referred to a Supreme Court directive of 2018, in the “Prakash Singh case”, which mandates that state governments must forward proposals for DGP empanelment at least three months before a vacancy arises.
In the case of West Bengal, the proposal was submitted in July 2025, more than 18 months after the vacancy occurred.
Although an ECM was held on October 30 last year, a delay in submission of the proposal reportedly led to differences among members of the committee, the official said, adding that the UPSC subsequently sought the opinion of the Attorney General of India.
The Attorney General termed the delay “serious” and said the Commission had no provision to condone such a lapse, he said.
He observed that a delay could deprive eligible and deserving officers of the opportunity for empanelment, and added that the state government should have approached the Supreme Court earlier for directions.
“Following the Attorney General’s opinion, the UPSC returned the proposal and recommended that the West Bengal government seek appropriate directions from the Supreme Court,” the bureaucrat said.
UPSC Director (AIS) Nand Kishore Kumar issued a formal communication to this effect on December 31, with a copy also forwarded to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, another source in the state government said. PTI SCH NN
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