Supreme Court issues contempt notices to AP, Telangana over temporary DGP appointments

HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court has expressed strong displeasure at the appointment of temporary Director General of Police (DGP) in violation of established rules by multiple state governments, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The court issued contempt notices to eight states, including the Telugu-speaking states, for not following proper procedures in appointing DGPs.

The case was brought to the court's attention by Vinod Kumar from Haryana, who filed a petition challenging the appointment of ad-hoc DGPs in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. Kumar argued that these appointments were made against the Supreme Court’s guidelines.

As per the court’s guidelines, state governments must send a list of eligible senior DGP-rank officers, who have at least six months of service left, to a committee headed by the UPSC Chairman three months before the DGP post becomes vacant. From this list, the committee selects three candidates based on merit and seniority, out of which the state government must appoint one as the DGP.

The petition highlighted that the eight states ignored this process and appointed temporary DGPs, which goes against the Supreme Court’s previous rulings on the matter. The bench, expressing frustration over this non-compliance, reminded the states of the clear rules and ordered them to respond to the contempt notices by October 21.