VIJAYAWADA: The State Cabinet on Saturday decided to issue an ordinance to amend the existing law in order to sidestep the UPSC for the appointment of State police chief. The Cabinet, at the meeting lasting five hours, felt that it was the prerogative of the state government to appoint an officer of its choice as the state DGP. Currently, as per the Supreme Court verdict in the Prakash Singh vs Union of India case, a State government will have to forward a list of seven senior-most eligible officers to the UPSC, which in turn will shortlist three of them. The State government will then have to pick one from among the three.
The Cabinet move comes in the wake of the UPSC panel rejecting the list sent by the State government twice. The latter had first sent the list which included the name of incumbent N Sambasiva Rao, who was then still an incharge DGP. The UPSC rejected the list citing the fact that a few among the list including Rao had less than two years of service, In fact, Rao's tenure ends on December 31.
The apex court had made it clear that a DGP ought to have a minimum tenure of two years. Nonetheless, the state government sent the list again without any changes prompting the UPSC to reject it again. Subsequently, the government issued a GO appointing Rao as full-time DGP.
Sources said the Chief Minister informed the Cabinet that the ordinance was not solely meant to continue Rao's services. "It is to assert the State's right to appoint an officer of its choice as DGP," he said. In an official release, the CMO said the cabinet had decided to also enact a comprehensive Police Act. On the crucial question of whether Rao will continue beyond December 31 when he is due to retire, the sources told TNIE that the DGP had expressed his reluctance to continue.