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HomeIndiaBengal govt moves SC on DGP appointment, says UPSC has no jurisdiction...

Bengal govt moves SC on DGP appointment, says UPSC has no jurisdiction or expertise in it

Wednesday's application comes day after Mamata govt nominated an acting DGP for the state, amid tussle between Bengal and UPSC over the selection of new top cop.

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New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has neither the jurisdiction nor the expertise to consider and appoint the director general of police (DGP) of a state as the same is not in consonance with the Indian Federal System of governance, the West Bengal government has told the Supreme Court.

This comes a day after the Mamata Banerjee government nominated a 1986-batch IPS officer as the state’s acting DGP, amid the tussle between the state and the UPSC over the selection of a new top cop. According to the state, the UPSC has, in a series of letters, pointed out several discrepancies in the Bengal government’s list of names suggested for the position.

In an application filed before the top court, the state said the central and state governments act within a well-defined sphere, coordinated, but at the same time independent of each other.

Under Article 320 of the Constitution, the UPSC has a limited role to provide consultation on the principles to be followed in the appointments to the service of the Union and promotions and transfers of such candidates, the West Bengal government has submitted in its application.

Senior advocate Siddhartha Luthra Wednesday mentioned the application before a bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and requested it to list the same for an early hearing. Luthra told the bench that the state does not have a regular DGP and that the top court has barred the appointment of an acting police chief.

Through its application, the state has implored the apex court to give finality to a petition filed by senior advocate Harish Salve in 2018, challenging the constitutional validity of laws passed by states to overcome the Supreme Court’s directions in the 1996 Prakash Singh case on police reforms.

Delivered in September 2006, this judgment issued specific directions pertaining to the selection and minimum tenure of DGP of the states. According to the ruling, the DGP of the state shall be selected by the state, from among the three senior-most officers of the department empanelled for promotion to that rank by the UPSC.

Salve, in his petition, claimed the state enactments (to overcome the Prakash Singh guidelines) diluted the directions issued in the matter. Subsequent to this application, the court modified its directions in the Prakash Singh judgment, saying the states shall send their proposals in anticipation of the vacancies to the UPSC at least three months prior to the date of recruitment.

However, according to West Bengal these directions were to remain operative till it decides the petition filed by Salve. The state has now requested the SC to take up the matter, which was last heard in early January 2019.


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‘Police part of state list’

In the opinion of the West Bengal government, the Constitution does not vest the UPSC with the power to assess the “merit of the officers” holding the rank of DGP in the state cadre. According to the application, it is the state that can have the proximate opportunity to assess the fitness of officers of that rank, who have rendered service to the state in the state cadre.

Since the Constitution provides for extending the functions of UPSC by an Act made by the Parliament, it cannot be entrusted with the function of preparing the panel of officers for the appointment of DGP till the Parliament makes a new law, the application claimed. 

Also, “public order” and “police” fall in the state list of the Constitution, giving West Bengal the exclusive power to legislate in regard to its police system and also have full administrative control over the police in the state.

Therefore, the state submitted, that the direct involvement of UPSC in the appointment process of the DGP of a state would be tantamount to curtailment of the state’s legislative powers.

“…such curtailment of legislative powers of the States may not be permissible in exercise of this Hon’ble Court’s power of judicial review or under Article 142 of the Constitution as it would breach the doctrine of separation of powers”, said the state application.

Article 142 confers powers to the Supreme Court to issue orders and directions.

The state’s “ultimate power” to exercise superintendence and selection of the DGP cannot be taken away, said the West Bengal government in the application, as it disclosed details of an independent selection procedure followed for promotion of officers.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)


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