In surprising developments in the ongoing selection process for the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana, the UPSC has directed the state government to list 1988 batch IPS officer Manoj Yadav as part of the candidate list for the position that comprises senior IPS officers candidates for the position. Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, the Centre issued orders appointing Yadav as Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in the Railways Ministry.
Notably, the Haryana government has not wanted to list Yadav as a candidate for the DGP of Haryana which is why his name was not included in the list sent to UPSC. Yadav himself has also written that he is not willing to take up the post of DGP. It is pertinent to mention that Yadav had for two consecutive years preceded the present DGP, PK Aggarwal, as Haryana DGP. Since DGP Aggarwal’s term ends on 15 August is ending on 15 August, the state government has begun the selection process for a new DGP as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
The names of nine IPS officers, including four officers ranked DGP and five ranked ADGP were sent to UPSC. According to the norms, UPSC will make a panel of three of the most senior officers and send those to the state. In addition to the absence of some documents of certain candidates, the services commission recently raised questions over the absence of Yadav’s name as well.
According to sources Manoj Yadav’s appointment to the Railways has come as a relief to the Haryana government. However, even if the situation remains the same, Yadav’s name is certain to appear in the UPSC panel. To avoid this, the state might have to request the Union Home Ministry to exclude Yadav’s name from the panel. A similar request has to be made to the Ministry of Railways. It is possible that on the request of the Haryana Government, the Ministry of Railways might write a letter to the Home Ministry regarding the services of Manoj Yadav. In such a situation, MHA might then write to the UPSC to state that Manoj Yadav cannot be relieved from the services of the Centre.
If such a letter is written to the Central Public Service Commission on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs, then the UPSC can make a panel of names of other senior officers except Manoj Yadav’s name and send it to the state government. The names of three DGP rank officers including 1989 batch IPS Mohammad Aqueel and RC Mishra as well as 1990 batch Shatrujit Kapoor might be added to the panel. Sources say that Kapoor may be the first choice of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
