New Delhi: A curious mystery has emerged in Jharkhand. With the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) upping the ante against the continuing tenure of Director General of Police (DGP), Anurag Gupta after he was due to retire on 30 April, 2025—when he turned 60—there is suspense over whether Gupta is working with or without a salary.
According to a highly placed source in the Jharkhand government, Gupta has not been issued his salary slip after 30 April, making his continued position as DGP legally tenuous.
“While the state government gives the salary of IPS officers posted in the state, it is from the office of the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) from whom he gets the pay slip,” the source said.
“The case is very muddled because the DGP is a cadre post reserved for IPS officers, and the service conditions for IPS officers are determined by the Ministry of Home Affairs. So, if an officer has retired, they cannot continue in office.”
The source further said that the state government’s case is that, according to the directions of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case, DGP is a tenured position for 2 years, and the tenure can continue after the officer turns 60.
However, this is “provided he is appointed six months before he turns 60,” the source said, adding, “The court will have to set the record straight in this matter now.”
Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly Babulal Marandi, filed a PIL in the Jharkhand High Court, terming Gupta’s appointment unconstitutional. The case is listed for a hearing in June.
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‘Administration without salary’
Gupta was first appointed as DGP in July 2024 by the Hemant Soren government, but was removed from the post during the assembly elections by the Election Commission of India. However, after the government came back to power with a huge majority, Gupta was reinstated in November 2024.
To circumvent the issue of his retirement, in January 2025, the state government introduced the Selection and Appointment of Director General and Inspector General of Police, Jharkhand (Head of Police Force) Rules, 2025, according to which, the state government will not have to select a DGP from a panel of three officers shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Instead, the state government itself would form a committee consisting of a retired judge of the high court, the chairman; the chief secretary; nominated officials of Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and UPSC; principal secretary (home department); and a retired DGP as members. The DGP, according to these rules, would be selected on the recommendation of this committee.
On 3 February, Gupta was again appointed to the post of the DGP in accordance with the new rules.
However, in the last week of April, the MHA issued a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, saying that Gupta cannot continue as DGP beyond his retirement date, as this violates the appointment rules. It also added that his appointment was not done in accordance with the All-India Service Rules.
Last week, addressing a press conference, Marandi said that the Jharkhand government has surpassed all “limits of impropriety”, with the state becoming the first in the country where the position of the DGP has been vacant for 10 days, and the person, who is supposedly working as the DGP, is doing so without a salary.
In an X post, later, Marandi said, “Wow, Chief Minister, this is the creation of a new India—‘administration without salary, without constitutional validity, only on the basis of corruption!’”
निर्लज्जता की भी एक हद होती है, पर @HemantSorenJMM सरकार ने तो उसे भी पार कर दिया है। झारखंड देश का पहला ऐसा राज्य बन गया है जहाँ बीते दस दिनों से डीजीपी का पद खाली है और जो ‘डीजीपी’ जैसे काम कर भी रहा है, वो बिना वेतन के सेवा दे रहा है! वाह मुख्यमंत्री जी, ये तो नया भारत निर्माण…
— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) May 11, 2025
“In fact, it appears that the state government has not only ignored Article 312 of the Constitution, which empowers UPSC, but has also thrown into the dustbin the directions of the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh case,” he added.
Appointment rules & Centre-state tussle
To minimise political influence in the appointment of top cops in the states, in the Prakash Singh case of 2006, the Supreme Court had said that the UPSC would empanel three officers in every state on the basis of the candidates’ length of service, service record and range of experience. The state would then select one of the three officers to head its police.
According to the directions, the states are required to inform the UPSC of an arising vacancy three months prior to the retirement of the sitting DGP. In addition, the chosen DGP is supposed to have a fixed tenure of no less than 2 years. This is to ensure that the officers are not shuffled with changes in government.
In December 2018, five states—Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, West Bengal and Bihar—filed pleas in the Supreme Court, seeking to implement their own local laws for the appointment of the DGP. They were of the view that the directions went against the federal nature of the Indian state, and gave unnecessary power to the central government in matters of the police and public order, which are state subjects.
But in 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed the pleas, arguing that in order to insulate the police from political interference, it was necessary to ensure that the appointment of the DGP was not done solely by state governments. It, therefore, told the states to consult the UPSC for the empanelment of IPS officers to the post of DGP.
In November 2024, after the Supreme Court issued notices to eight states, including Uttar Pradesh, for appointing temporary DGPs in order to circumvent the UPSC, the UP government framed its own rules for the appointment of the state’s DGP.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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