By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: The intention of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case was to ensure that the Police Chief should be selected on the principle of ‘seniority cum merit (not merit cum seniority) and s/he should be insulated from political interference.
Hence selection amongst the first three and fixed tenure of two years. But most states have subverted this. They want a politically manageable person. For that vigilance and criminal cases are being initiated against the seniors. Further, there is no rule prescribing candidature.
The violations in Prakash Singh are being heard by the Honourable Supreme Court now. The next hearing is on the 18th August. Here in Odisha, these subversive people should not remain in the dream of not being scrutinised. Fearless media persons like you and Courts still exist.
The UPSC Empanelment Committee meeting held around 7 August was deferred/inconclusive (mainly over issues related to Susanta Kumar Nath).
No final three-name shortlist has been publicly announced or sent to the Odisha government yet.
On 10 August, the Odisha government promoted both Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa to DG rank. Multiple reports describe Panda as a strong contender frontrunner, and the state is expected to send a fresh panel likely including Dr Sudhanshu Sarangi, RP Koche, Panda and Jethwa) to the UPSC.
What happens if UPSC does drop Panda’s name? Under the Supreme Court-mandated process:
The state sends a list of eligible officers. UPSC shortlists three names.The state government must choose the DGP only from those three names. If Panda is left out of the final three:
He cannot be appointed as DGP, even if the state government strongly prefers him.
The government would then have to select one of the three officers whose names UPSC does send (most commonly expected to include Sudhanshu Sarangi and R.P. Koche if seniority is strictly followed).The state has limited options — it cannot appoint someone outside the UPSC panel.
In practice, states sometimes request UPSC to reconsider or send a fresh, wider panel if there are strong reasons like integrity issues with one of the shortlisted officers, or if the state feels a preferred officer was unfairly left out. However, UPSC is not obliged to change its shortlist, and the final appointment has to come from the panel it recommends.
The process is still open, and recent government actions (promoting him to DG rank suggest the state wants Panda kept in contention. Any final shortlist is still awaited.
