New Delhi: A petition has been filed challenging the appointment and extension of service of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner by one year.
A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh will hear the petition on August 18, 2021.
According to a PTI report, the petition sought quashing of the July 27, 2021 order by the Ministry of Home Affairs appointing Asthana as Commissioner of Delhi Police and granting him inter-cadre deputation and extension. Has been done. The petition has also sought to take steps for the appointment of Delhi Police Commissioner strictly as per the directions issued earlier by the Supreme Court.
The impugned orders (of the MHA) are a clear and gross violation of the directions passed by the Supreme Court of India in the Parkash Singh case because (i) respondent No. 2 (Asthana) did not have a minimum residual tenure of six months; (ii) no UPSC panel was formed for the appointment of the Delhi Police Commissioner; and (iii) the criterion of minimum tenure of two years has been ignored, the petition cited by PTI which was filed by Delhi-based lawyer Sadr Alam.
The petition claimed that the high-powered committee comprising the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition during a meeting held on May 24, 2021, rejected the Central government’s attempt to appoint the same IPS officer (Asthana). Gave. Based on the six-month rule laid down by the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh, CBI Director.
It further said that Asthana should be kept aside on the same principle as the Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
A similar petition was earlier filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO, Center for Public Interest Litigation, urging it to direct the Central government to issue an order dated July 27, asking Asthana to move from Gujarat cadre to AGMUT cadre. Inter-cadre deputation of Rs. . The petition, filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, also urged the apex court to set aside the Centre’s order to extend Asthana’s service period.
Advocate ML Sharma also filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for appointing Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner in alleged violation of the judgment in the Parkash Singh case. The apex court had issued several directions. Sharma, in his plea on police reforms, has said that as per the apex court’s 3 July 2018 judgment, the process of appointment should start three months before the vacancy and the person being appointed should have a reasonable period of service left. .
Rakesh Asthana, a 1984 batch IPS officer serving as the Director General of the Border Security Force, was appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner on July 27, 2021, four days before his retirement on July 31, 2021. It was “a special case. Public interest” as per the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
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