Kumar Bahukhandi
After a relentless search for the next state police chief finally the Chhattisgarh Government has send a proposal to extend the service tenure of the Director General of Police (DGP), Ashok Juneja, by another six months. Juneja, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre officer of Chhattisgarh, is due for his retirement on August 4, just 4 days later. “A proposal for this has been prepared by the Chhattisgarh Government’s Home Department, which got the approval from the Government,” a senior IPS officer familiar with the situation told ‘. According to this IPS officer, the proposal for the extension of the incumbent DGP was necessitated as the panel has not yet been sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to decide the next face of DGP in Chhattisgarh.
“He (Juneja) on the account of several merits and situational demand, may indeed get the post-retirement assignment, which is well in tune with exigency measures, like one recently exercised and executed by the Centre in giving one year extension in service of Tapan Kumar Deka, Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB),” he maintained. According to this officer, the proposal sent by C h h a t t i s g a r h Government’s Home Department with clearance from the Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, will be put forth before the Centre seeking approval for the extension in service for a period of six months beyond August 4, 2024 or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in relaxation of the provisions of All India Services Rules, 1958.
“Moreover, the proposal has been carefully drafted after seeking legal opinion in view of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the 2006 Prakash Singh case, which fixed rules for appointment and removal of DGPs in states to ensure that the policing system in the states stays out of political interference,” he added. Notably, the Apex court in its 2006 order, among other directions stated, “The Director General of Police of the State shall be selected by the State Government from amongst the three senior most officers of the Department who have been empanelled for promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience for heading the police force. And, once he has been selected for the job, he should have a minimum tenure of at least two years irrespective of his date of superannuation.
However, the extended term beyond the date of superannuation should be a reasonable period. Some of the states have adopted a practice to appoint the Director General of Police on the last date of retirement as a consequence of which the person continues for two years after his date of superannuation. Such a practice will not be in conformity with the spirit of the direction.” This recent proposal seems to have sparked controversy in the government circles, as Ashok Juneja’s appointment as DGP on November 11, 2021, was criticised for allegedly disregarding Supreme Court guidelines. Juneja was appointed over five senior IPS officers in Chhattisgarh, replacing Durgesh Madhaw Awasthi, a 1986 batch IPS officer from the Chhattisgarh cadre.
Interestingly, this situation has come up while the State already has three senior IPS officers viz Arun Deo Gautam and Pawan Deo both from the 1992 batch and Himanshu Gupta a 1994 batch. Gautam and Gupta were recently elevated to the rank of Special Director General of Police (SDGP). Pawan Deo’s promotion, which was previously put on hold, has now reportedly been approved for elevation to the rank of Special Director General of Police (SDGP).
