The Supreme Court will hear a batch of petitions on Monday. The petitions challenge the appointment of Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta. They claim that the correct legal process was not followed.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria will hear the pleas. Several petitions have been filed. One of them is from Babulal Marandi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly.
The top court on July 24 agreed to hear a plea of a social activist after senior advocate Anjana Prakash said the guidelines for appointment of DGP laid down by this court were not followed in Gupta's case.
Gupta was scheduled to retire on April 30. He was due to retire under central government rules for reaching the age of 60. The state government had written to the Centre to extend his tenure. However, according to sources, the Centre rejected this proposal.
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Previously too, a plea was filed in the top court against his "ad hoc" appointment by the Hemant Soren-led JMM government in the state.
On September 6 of last year, the top court sought responses from the state government and Gupta. This was in response to a contempt plea.
The contempt plea alleged that a 2006 Supreme Court verdict was not followed. This verdict mandates a fixed tenure of two years for DGPs. It also requires their selection from a list of the three most senior IPS officers. The list is prepared by the UPSC.
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