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The Delhi High Court today adjourned till Aug 23, a petition seeking quashing of the order issued by the Central Government appointing Mr. Rakesh Asthana, IPS as the Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

The matter was heard by a Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh. The court adjourned the case seeking a response from the Centre whether any case in this regard is already pending before the High Court. 

The petition filed by one Sadre Alam seeks quashing of the order/communication dated Jul 27 of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) granting inter-cadre deputation and extension of service to Asthana.

The petition filed through Adv. BS Bagga says that the impugned orders are in clear and blatant breach of the directions passed by the Supreme Court of India in Prakash Singh case as Asthana did not have a minimum residual tenure of six months at the time of his appointment as Commissioner of Police since he was to retire within 4 days. 

Further no Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) panel was formed for the appointment of the Delhi Police Commissioner and the criteria of having a minimum tenure of two years has been ignored.

The petitioner has submitted that “the post of Commissioner of Police in Delhi is akin to the post ofDGP of a State and he is the Head of Police Force for the NCT of Delhi and therefore, the directions concerning the appointment to the post of DGP passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Prakash Singh case (supra) had to be followed by the Central Government while making the impugned appointment. However, the same have been given a complete go-by the Central Government”.

The petition thus seeks a direction to the Union Governmnet to initiate fresh steps for appointing the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, strictly in accordance with the directions issued by the  Supreme Court of India in the Prakash Singh case viz., (2006) 8 SCC 1,(2019) 4 SCC 13and (2019) 4 SCC 1 of an officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.

Case Title: Badre Alam vs UOI

Edited by Shreya Agarwal