Punjab finally submits proposal to UPSC for regular DGP appointment

Chandigarh: Nearly four years after appointing an acting police chief, the Punjab govt on Monday finally sent a panel of 14 IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the appointment of a regular director general of police (DGP), setting in motion the long-delayed process.The move follows the Supreme Court's Feb 5 directions pulling up states, including Punjab, for continuing with "acting" DGPs and reiterating compliance with the UPSC-led appointment process laid down in the Prakash Singh police reforms case. Acting on the order, the UPSC on Feb 18 asked Punjab to send its proposal within 10 days, and later issued a reminder after the state failed to do so. On March 12, the Supreme Court rejected Punjab govt's attempt to rely on the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, under which the state had argued that the matter was pending with the President.Among the 14 officers whose names have been sent is 1992-batch IPS officer Gaurav Yadav, who has been serving as Punjab's acting DGP since July 2022. Since he is one among the contenders, the UPSC has allowed Punjab to replace him with the state home secretary in the empanelment committee in which the DGP and chief secretary of the concerned state are members.The UPSC empanelment committee will now shortlist three officers, from whom the Punjab govt will choose one as the regular DGP. Under the Supreme Court-backed framework, the selected officer will get a minimum tenure of two years, irrespective of the date of retirement.In 2022, Yadav replaced 1987-batch IPS officer Viresh Kumar Bhawra, who was appointed as regular DGP on the basis of UPSC procedure where the UPSC empanelment committee selected three officers from a proposal sent by the then Congress-led govt.Bhawra was chosen to be appointed as DGP by the then chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress govt from among the three shortlisted officers in Jan 2022, hours before the code of conduct kicked in for the Feb 2022 Punjab elections. When he was appointed as acting DGP in July by the AAP-led govt, Yadav superseded several senior officers. Punjab had been delaying sending the proposal, taking refuge in the Punjab Police Amendment Bill (2023) the Punjab assembly passed in 2023 and which aimed at circumventing the Supreme Court-mandated UPSC procedure. The bill provided for a state-controlled seven-member committee to select the DGP from a pool of eligible officers. The 14 officers whose names have been submitted in the proposal on Monday are 1992-batch IPS officers acting DGP Gaurav Yadav, special DGP (Punjab Police Housing Corporation) Sharad Satya Chauhan, special DGP (anti-narcotics task force) Kuldeep Singh and Harpeeet Singh Sidhu (awaiting posting); 1993-batch IPS officers special DGP (community affairs division and women affairs) Gurpreet Kaur Deo, special DGP (Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd) Jitendra Kumar Jain, special DGP (railway) Shashi Prabha Dwivedi; and 1994-batch IPS officers special DGP (headquarters) Sudhanshi Shekhar Srivastava, special DGP-cum-chief director (vigilance bureau) Praveen Kumar Sinha, special DGP (traffic and road safety) Aamardeep Singh Rai, special DGP (cyber crime) Voruvuru Neeraja, special DGP-cum-director, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy (MRSPPA), Phillaur, Anita Punj, special DGP (human rights) Dr Naresh Kumar and special DGP (technical support services) Ram Singh.