Supreme Court orders UPSC to pause Odisha DGP selection panel

In New Delhi, the Supreme Court asked the Union Public Service Commission to defer the creation of a shortlist of three candidates for the Odisha police chief position, as the current DGP Y B Khurania will retire on Aug 16. Senior advocate P Chidambaram, representing petitioner Jayant Das, claimed that a recently promoted ADGP was improperly included in the panel, breaching the two-decade-old Prakash Singh judgment on DGP appointments.

Odisha’s advocate general Pitambara Acharya maintained that the state had complied with the guidelines, having forwarded names of 11 DGP-rank officers to UPSC. The court observed that none of the officers omitted from the list had lodged complaints and instructed UPSC to delay its selection meeting, with the matter set for review on Aug 18. UPSC’s representative Hrishikesh Baruah confirmed the postponement. The decision may require Khurania to remain in post or an interim DGP to be appointed until the court resolves the issue.