Chandigarh (26.09.2025): The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the Haryana Home Department and its secretary hold overriding authority over the Director General of Police (DGP) and all subordinate officers in disciplinary matters.
The court made it clear that superintendents of police (SPs) and other officers are “bound to follow and honour orders of the Home Secretary” and have “no authority to set aside or ignore orders of the Home Department.”
The ruling came on September 23, 2025 while quashing a notice dated August 7, 2025, issued by an SP that sought to override a Home Department decision.
The High Court said the crux of the matter lay in who holds final authority under service rules governing the police. In its ruling, the court emphasised that the Home Department has long exercised the power to review, modify or annul punishments handed down by the DGP.
In an affidavit filed in the case, Dr Sumita Misra, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), stated: “A plain reading of the statutory provision would show that the State Government has been conferred the power to call for the records, to review the award, to confirm, enhance, modify or annul the same.”
