The Supreme Court on Thursday (August 13) directed the Union Public Service Commission not to finalise the selection of the Director General of Police of the State of Odisha till August 18, when a petition challenging the DGP selection process will be considered by the Court.
The Court asked the UPSC to defer the meeting, which was reportedly slated to happen today, till the next hearing date.
Senior Advocate P Chidambaram mentioned before the bench led by the Chief Justice of India a Public Interest Litigation challenging the DGP selection process on the ground that it was being done in violation of the Supreme Court's directions in the Prakash Singh judgment. Though the matter was listed today, it was not likely to be taken up. He therefore mentioned the matter before the bench was rising for the lunch break to request a hearing tomorrow. He submitted that the UPSC was slated to hold a meeting today to finalise the candidate.
Chidambaram alleged that an officer was given promotion yesterday, preempting the Supreme Court hearing, and to include in the panel sent to the UPSC.
Odisha Advocate General Pitambar Acharya denied any breach of the norms and questioned the maintainability of a PIL in a service dispute.
The bench also expressed doubts about the maintainability of the PIL, with CJI Surya Kant pointing out that no affected officer has approached the Court.
The bench then sought the views of Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran, the amicus curiae in the Prakash Singh matter. The amicus supported the petition, saying that the selection process is being done in violation of the Prakash Singh guidelines. Taking into consideration the stand of the amicus, the Court asked the counsel representing the UPSC to defer the meeting.