The Punjab government has reportedly sent a panel of 14 senior IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for shortlisting three candidates for the position of regular Director General of Police (DGP), sources said on Monday. Currently, IPS officer Gaurav Yadav is serving as the acting DGP, heading the state police force.
The list forwarded to the UPSC includes senior IPS officers holding the rank of DGP or equivalent positions.
According to sources, the panel includes 1992-batch IPS officer Gaurav Yadav, Special DGP Sharad Satya Chauhan, Special DGP (Anti-Narcotics Task Force) Kuldeep Singh, and senior IPS officer Harpreet Singh Sidhu, who is currently awaiting posting.
Other officers included in the panel are Special DGP (Community Affairs & Women Affairs) Gurpreet Kaur Deo, Special DGP (Punjab State Power Corporation) Jitendra Kumar Jain, Special DGP (Railway) Shashi Prabha Dwivedi, Special DGP (Headquarters) Sudhanshi Shekhar Srivastava, Special DGP P K Sinha, Special DGP (Traffic and Road Safety) Amardeep Singh Rai, and Special DGP (Cyber Crime) V Neeraja, among others.
Last month, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had stated that the government would soon send a panel of officers to initiate the process of appointing a regular DGP.
Earlier, the Punjab government had delayed sending the panel despite repeated reminders from the UPSC regarding the appointment of a regular police chief. In February, the Supreme Court had also criticised several states, including Punjab, for continuing with acting DGPs instead of appointing regular police chiefs.
The Punjab government had passed the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill in 2023, allowing the state to appoint the DGP through a separate state-level committee. However, the Bill is still awaiting the President’s assent.
The AAP government had appointed Gaurav Yadav as officiating DGP in July 2022 after then police chief V K Bhawra was sent on leave.
As per the established procedure, once a state sends a panel of eligible officers, the UPSC empanelment committee shortlists three names, from which the state government selects the final candidate as DGP.
Earlier on Monday, the Punjab government also appointed 1992-batch IPS officer Sharad Satya Chauhan as Special DGP-cum-Chief Director of the Vigilance Bureau.
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