The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing of a PIL challenging the proposed selection process for Odisha’s next Director General of Police (DGP). The matter will now be heard on September 2.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was informed that the Odisha government had filed its response. However, the court said the reply was not yet on record.
The PIL alleges that the state government was trying to include a junior officer in the panel of candidates for the DGP post. The petitioner has argued that this would violate the Supreme Court’s directions in the 2006 Prakash Singh case.
Earlier, the court had directed the UPSC not to finalise the Odisha DGP candidate panel until August 18.
Senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for the petitioner, had alleged that Odisha withdrew an earlier panel and later sent another list containing DGP- and ADGP-rank officers.
The issue has gained importance following the retirement of Odisha DGP Y B Khurania on August 16. Senior IPS officer Vinaytosh Mishra is currently holding additional charge until a regular DGP is appointed.