With UPSC challenging CAT order, fresh complications surface over new Bengal DGP's appointment

Kolkata, Jan 27 (IANS) Further complications have arisen over the appointment of new Director General of state police in West Bengal as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has approached the Delhi High Court challenging an order from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) earlier this month directing the Mamata Banerjee government to complete the process of recruitment of the new DGP by January 31, the day of the retirement of the current Acting DGP, Rajeev Kumar.

On January 21, the CAT directed the West Bengal government to send proposals by January 23 to the UPSC for empanelment to decide the appointment of the new DGP, so that the entire process could be completed by January 31.

Accordingly, the state government sent the names of eight serving Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to the UPSC for panel enlistment last week. The eight names also included Rajeev Kumar, and in his case, the state government has sought an extension of service to give him the chair of DGP.

When matters over the appointment of the new DGP of West Bengal seemed to have settled down, fresh complications have arisen with UPSC challenging the CAT order.

Currently, West Bengal Police does not have a full-time DGP, with Rajeev Kumar being an Acting DGP.

As per protocol, the state government is supposed to send a list of serving IPS officers in the state for appointment to the post of DGP, and the UPSC finally clears the appointment from the list furnished by the state government.

Controversies, however, erupted after the UPSC returned the list of Indian Police Service officers recommended by the West Bengal government for the selection of any one from the list as the new DGP.

The Director (All India Service) of the UPSC, Nand Kishor Kumar, also advised the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Nandini Chakraborty, to approach the Supreme Court and get the necessary clearance for the appointment of Rajeev Kumar's successor.

The entire complication has its roots in the retirement of Rajeev Kumar's predecessor, Manoj Malviya, from the chair of DGP in December 2023.

Instead of then sending a panel of three IPS officers -- to succeed Malviya -- to the UPSC for clearance, the state government chose to appoint Rajeev Kumar as the Acting Director General of Police.

Although the state government has recently sent the recommended panel of IPS officers as his successor, the UPSC declined to accept it on the grounds that, as per a Supreme Court order in July 2018, any state government should send the recommended panel of IPS officers for appointment as the new state DGP at least three months before the retirement of the sitting DGP, the procedure was not followed by the state government.

Hence, going by that logic, the West Bengal government should have sent the recommended panel in September 2023, that is, three months before the retirement of Rajeev Kumar's predecessor, Manoj Malviya, who retired in December 2023.