CAT sets aside Punjab DGP's appointment

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Friday set aside the appointment of Punjab's Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta as it allowed the application challenging his appointment by his seniors in service.

Reacting to the development, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Gupta would continue to be the DGP.

Allowed the application filed by senior IPS officers Siddharth Chattopadhyay and Mohammad Mustafa, the tribunal asked the Punjab government to make the appointment as per the procedure laid out by the Supreme Court within four weeks.

"The order dated February 7, 2019 appointing Mr. Dinkar Gupta as DGP is also set aside," the tribunal said.

"The respondents are directed to prepare a panel of three senior-most officers, strictly in accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court. They shall also address the issue as to the size of the list, i.e., zone of consideration, for this purpose and shall not take into account any factors other than those mentioned by the Supreme Court," it said.

The exercise in this behalf shall be completed within four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the judgment, it added.

A 1987 batch Indian Police Services (IPS) officer, Gupta had superseded five senior officers to be named the state police chief on February 7, 2019.

Mustafa and Chattopadhyay had challenged the government decision in the tribunal, saying they were ignored for the post despite fulfilling the criterion.

Besides them, the other officers are Hardeep Dhillon, Jasminder Singh and Samant Goel.

Amarinder Singh told the media here that the matter has to be sorted out between the CAT and the Union Public Service Commission, but Gupta would continue to be the DGP.

( With inputs from IANS )