CAT orders state to resume DGP selection

Kolkata: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has directed the West Bengal government to immediately restart the stalled process for the appointment of the Director General of Police (DGP) and set strict deadlines for both the state and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to complete the exercise.

In an interim order, the tribunal asked the state government to forward a fresh proposal for empanelment of the DGP to the UPSC within 48 hours. The commission has been instructed to convene its empanelment committee by January 28 and submit a panel of three eligible senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers to the state government by January 29. At present, the West Bengal Police does not have a full-time DGP. Acting DGP Rajeev Kumar is due to retire on January 31.

Earlier this month, the UPSC had declined to process the panel of names sent by the state government for the DGP post and returned the proposal, asking the state to seek clarification from the Supreme Court of India. In its communication, the UPSC noted that the post of DGP (Head of Police Force) in West Bengal was deemed to have fallen vacant in December 2023 following the retirement of Kumar’s predecessor, Manoj Malviya. As per Supreme Court directives, the state government is required to forward a panel of eligible officers to the UPSC at least three months before the retirement of the incumbent DGP.

By that timeline, the proposal should have been submitted by September 2023. However, the UPSC pointed out that the state sent its proposal nearly one-and-a-half years later, in July 2025, failing to adhere to the

prescribed schedule.