Former Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Prakash Singh whose petition in the SC triggered landmark police reforms in the country has again moved the Supreme Court to clarify its recent order on DGP appointments.

 

Singh claims the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) 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 is despite the 2006 judgment clearly stating 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.

 

“Such a process would lead to...demoralisation 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.”