AGENCIES / New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre and Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on a plea of NGO Public Interest Litigation’ CPIL against the Delhi High Court order of upholding Asthana’s appointment as police chief.
CPIL approached the apex court in an appeal against the October 12 order of the Delhi High Court which had upheld the Centre’s decision to appoint Asthana, Gujarat cadre IPS officer, as Delhi Police Commissioner four days before his superannuation on July 31, saying there was “no irregularity, illegality or infirmity” in his selection.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna sought a response in two weeks from the Centre and Asthana.
The NGO has filed a writ petition and an appeal against the appointment of Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner four days before his superannuation on July 31. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, said that they have filed the appeal as directed by the top court on November 18.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre and Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Asthana said that they would file their replies in two weeks.
The top court had asked the NGO to file an appeal against the Delhi High Court order. On October 12, the Delhi High Court upheld the Centre’s decision to appoint Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner, saying there was “no irregularity, illegality or infirmity” in his selection. Dismissing a PIL challenging his selection, it had said the justification and reasons given by the Centre for appointing Asthana are plausible, calling for no interference in judicial review.
Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, who was serving as the Director-General of Border Security Force, was appointed the Commissioner on July 27 after being shifted to the Union Territory cadre from Gujarat cadre for the tenure of one year.
The NGO’s petition has urged the top court to set aside the Centre’s order to appoint Asthana after extending his service period.
It termed the extension of Asthana’s tenure as well as an appointment as “illegal” as he did not have a residual tenure of mandatory six months of service at the time of his appointment as Commissioner of Police since he was to retire within 4 days.
The petition further claimed that the Centre’s order violated the policy regarding Inter-Cadre deputation of All India Service Officers.