NGO moves SC against appointment of Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner

NEW DELHI

An NGO The Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) on Friday, filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana, IPS as the Commissioner of Police, Delhi. The petitioner also urged the court to set aside the Centre’s order to extend Asthana’s service period.

“Issue direction to the center government to initiate fresh steps for appointing Commissioner of Police, Delhi, strictly in accordance with the directions issued by this court earlier,” the plea said.

The plea said that the post of Commissioner of Police in Delhi is akin to the post of DGP 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 this Hon’ble Court in the Prakash Singh case (supra) had to be followed by the Central Government while making the impugned appointment.

The High-Powered Committee meeting held on 24 May 2021, the Central government’s attempt to appoint the same IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the CBI Director was reportedly rejected by the Chief Justice of India by citing the “six-month rule” as laid down in Prakash Singh case. The appointment of Rakesh Asthana to the post of Commissioner of Police, Delhi must be set aside on the same principle, it added.

The post of Delhi Police Commissioner is much more akin to the post of DGP in the States, than the post of CBI Director and thus the directions given by this Hon’ble Court in Prakash Singh case would squarely apply in the instant case. Further, just like a State’s Director General of Police is the Head of Police Force in a state, the Delhi Police Commissioner is the Head of Police Force in the NCT of Delhi,the plea said.

Rakesh Asthana was under no “undue hardship” so as to require the Central government to give him an extension of service vide the impugned order merely 4 days before his retirement. The impugned order issued by the Central government is, therefore, completely illegal and clearly smacks of malafide, having been issued apparently only to promote the interests of the Rakesh Asthana as well as of those in the Central government, the plea added.

The 1984-batch IPS officer, serving as the director general of Border Security Force, was appointed Delhi Police Commissioner on July 27, four days before his superannuation on July 31. He will have a tenure of one year as police chief of the national capital.