New Delhi (05.02.2026): The Supreme Court of India on Thursday deprecated the practice of states delaying the appointments of directors general of police (DGPs) and instead opting for ad-hoc choices. There are states where officiating DGPs are serving for more than a year and Punjab is on the top of it with officiating DGP for over three years. He is officiating DGP since July 5, 2022. The SC asked that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) could send reminders to recommend names and initiate contempt proceedings if they failed to comply.
The SC was hearing a plea by the UPSC challenging a January 9, 2025, Telangana High Court direction to complete the DGP selection for the state in four weeks.
On January 1, the state had sent the names of a panel of IPS officers eligible for appointment as DGP. However, the UPSC returned it, citing the 2018 Supreme Court guidelines in the Prakash Singh vs Union of India case. The Commission pointed out that after the last DGP retired in 2017, the state had not made any recommendations.
In the Prakash Singh case, the Supreme Court had in September 2006, laid down that “the Director General of Police of the State shall be selected by the State Government from amongst the three senior-most officers of the Department who have been empanelled for promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience for heading the police force.”
It had said that “once he has been selected for the job, he should have a minimum tenure of at least two years irrespective of his date of superannuation. The DGP may, however, be relieved of his responsibilities by the State Government acting in consultation with the State Security Commission consequent upon any action taken against him under the All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules or following his conviction in a court of law in a criminal offence or in a case of corruption, or if he is otherwise incapacitated from discharging his duties”.
In July 2018, the Supreme Court directed all states to send their proposals to the UPSC in anticipation of the vacancies, at least three months before the serving DGP retired. The UPSC, it said, should prepare a panel from among those names, as per the court’s earlier directions, and forward it to the states, which should “immediately appoint” one of the recommended candidates.
