By Mukesh S Singh :
RAIPUR
AFTER a relentless search
for the next state police
chief finally the
Chhattisgarh Government
has send a proposal to
extend the service tenure
of the Director General of
Police (DGP), Ashok Juneja,
by another six months.
Juneja, a 1989-batch Indian
Police Service (IPS) cadre
officer of Chhattisgarh, is
due for his retirement on
August 4, just 4 days later.
“A proposal for this has
been prepared by the
C h h a t t i s g a r h
Government’s Home
Department, which got the
approval from the
Government,” a senior IPS
officer familiar with the situation told ‘The Hitavada’.
According to this IPS officer, the proposal for the
extension of the incumbent DGP was necessitated as the panel has not yet
been sent to the Union
Public Service
Commission (UPSC) to
decide the next face of DGP
in Chhattisgarh.
“He
(Juneja) on the account of
several merits and situational demand, may
indeed get the post-retirement assignment, which
is well in tune with exigency measures, like one
recently exercised and executed by the Centre in giving one year extension in
service of Tapan Kumar
Deka, Director, Intelligence
Bureau (IB),” he maintained.
According to this officer,
the proposal sent by
C h h a t t i s g a r h
Government’s Home
Department with clearance from the Chief
Minister Vishnu Deo Sai,
will be put forth before the
Centre seeking approval
for the extension in service for a period of six
months beyond August 4, 2024 or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in relaxation of the provisions of All India Services Rules, 1958.
“Moreover, the proposal has been carefully drafted after
seeking legal opinion in view of the guidelines laid down
by the Supreme Court in the 2006 Prakash Singh case,
which fixed rules for appointment and removal of DGPs
in states to ensure that the policing system in the states
stays out of political interference,” he added.
Notably, the Apex court in its 2006 order, among other directions stated, “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. And, 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.
However, the extended term beyond
the date of superannuation should be a reasonable
period. Some of the states have adopted a practice to
appoint the Director General of Police on the last date
of retirement as a consequence of which the person continues for two years after his date of superannuation.
Such a practice will not be in conformity with the spirit
of the direction.”
This recent proposal seems to have sparked controversy in the government circles, as Ashok Juneja’s appointment as DGP on November 11, 2021, was criticised for
allegedly disregarding Supreme Court guidelines. Juneja was appointed over five senior IPS officers in Chhattisgarh,
replacing Durgesh Madhaw Awasthi, a 1986 batch IPS
officer from the Chhattisgarh cadre.
Interestingly, this situation has come up while the
State already has three senior IPS officers viz Arun Deo
Gautam and Pawan Deo both from the 1992 batch and
Himanshu Gupta a 1994 batch. Gautam and Gupta were
recently elevated to the rank of Special Director General
of Police (SDGP). Pawan Deo’s promotion, which was
previously put on hold, has now reportedly been approved
for elevation to the rank of Special Director General of
Police (SDGP).