Merit, seniority only criteria for selection to DGP posts: CAT

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 28. The Bangalore Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal quashed the recommendations of the selection committee of the Union Government today on selecting 1966 batch Indian Police Service officers as Directors-General of Police at the Centre.

The tribunal directed the Centre to select Dr. R. Vishwanathan, a 1966 batch IPS officer, DGP and Managing Director, Karnataka Police Housing Corporation, as DGP at the Centre, if he was eligible on the basis of merit. It said the order should be implemented by the Centre within four weeks of the receipt of its certified copy. The tribunal said the recommendations were quashed as far as they related to the non-inclusion of Dr. Vishwanathan in the empanelled list. The appointment which had already been made on the recommendations of the committee need not be reconsidered at this point of time.

It declared that the procedure followed by the committee in the present case suffered from incurable defects. Taking strong exception to the committee's consideration of ``other attributes to judge officers' sustainability,'' it said the consideration was extraneous.

The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising the CAT vice- chairman, Mr. Justice Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, and the administrative member, Mr. S. K. Ghoshal, on the application of Dr. Vishwanathan. The applicant had challenged the non-inclusion of his name in the panel of IPS officers selected for the posts of DGP at the Centre. He had sought a direction to the Centre to consider his case for appointment to the post of Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which fell vacant on April 30. The Bench noted that the selection for and appointment to the post at the level of DGP at the Centre should be in accordance with the provisions of the IPS (Pay) Rules, 1954. It rejected the Centre's contention that appointments to these posts were regulated by the Cadre Rules and executive policy on deputation. It also rejected the argument that no IPS officer had a right to be selected for the DGP posts, and held that the posts were promotional.

The tribunal noted that the criteria adopted by the committee while considering the case of 1966 batch IPS officers were a modification and restriction on the only criteria for selection - merit and seniority.

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