No relief to TN from SC on DGP's posting

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to stay a Madras high court order quashing the appointment of Letika Saran as director-general of police of Tamil Nadu, leaving the state government with no option but to abide by the October 8 HC order. According to the HC ruling, which called for greater transparency in appointment of top police officials, Tamil Nadu has to forward a list of senior officers eligible for the DGP's post to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) by October 26.

"The HC only says follow the Prakash Singh case. Right now, we are not passing any orders," said an apex court bench, comprising Justices DK Jain and HL Dattu, when Tamil Nadu advocate-general PS Raman mentioned the matter.

The January 8 order of the government appointing Letika Saran as DGP and head of the state police was first challenged by R Nataraj, DGP and head of the State Fire and Rescue Services, who moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

The CAT dismissed the plea, but on October 8, the Madras HC quashed Saran's appointment and directed the government to forward a list of eligible officers to the UPSC. This was in keeping with the guidelines laid down by the SC for appointment of top police brass by a state.

The process of appointment, as per the apex court ruling, should be completed by December 7, the HC bench said, adding that till then Letika Saran could continue in the post.

In its SLP before the Supreme Court, the Tamil Nadu government said the HC had erroneously rejected its contentions that the post of DGP was an extremely sensitive post and that it ought to be filled by a person in whom it had the highest confidence.

The state argued that even after the apex court's judgment in the Prakash Singh case in 2006, neither the UPSC nor the Centre had made necessary amendments to Central rules. Also, no state government had made any appointment to the post of DGP through the empanelment process, it said.