Chandigarh (22.06.2023): The AAP government in Punjab passed the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to amend and substitute key clause and sub-clauses in the Punjab Police Act, 2007, for the appointment of state DGP, which if enacted will empower the state government to appoint a DGP of its own choice.
As per the Supreme Court guidelines, the state government is supposed to send a panel of eligible officers to the UPSC which will shortlist three officers from the panel and the state government would select an officer from the panel. However, the new Bill circumvents that procedure, empowering the Punjab government to form a seven member Empanelment Committee to form a panel of three senior-most officers.
The AAP government in the State has underlined “public order” and “police” appearing in the “State list under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India, 1950” and asserted that “the Constitutional framework envisions a ‘federal structure’ – wherein the States are exclusively empowered, through its legislature, to enact laws concerning ‘public order’ and ‘police’.”
The proposed seven-member committee in the Bill comprises of a retired chief justice or a retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court as the Chairman; the administrative secretary of Punjab home department as Member-cum-Convenor; and the Punjab chief secretary, a nominee of the UPSC, the Chairman or the nominee of Punjab Public Service Commission, a nominee of the Union home ministry, a retired Director General of Police who has served as the head of the police force in the State of Punjab as members of the Empanelment Committee.
The AAP government move to amend the Punjab police Act 2007 is being seen in the backdrop of continuation of Gaurav Yadav (IPS: 1992: PB) as acting DGP of Punjab and appointing him as regular DGP. MHA in March this year had asked why Punjab government was still continuing with officiating DGP and not sending a panel for appointment of regular DGP. Yadav was handpicked by the AAP government in Punjab to lead the police force as officiating DGP in the first week of July this year superseding at least five IPS officers of Punjab.
