SC junks pleas against appointment of Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked petitions against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which upheld the appointment of Dinkar Gupta as Punjab Director General of Police.

A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai dismissed the petitions filed by IPS officers Siddharth Chattopadhyay and Mohammad Mustafa, challenging February 7, 2019, order appointing Gupta as the Punjab DGP.

The top court had reserved the order in the matter in September this year. The detailed judgment in the matter is expected to be uploaded on the top court's website later in the day.

Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, representing the Union Public Service Commission had submitted that draft guidelines, 2009 were legal, binding and in conformity with the Prakash Singh judgment.

The counsel, representing Chattopadhyay, had argued that his client was considered unfit, since Suresh Arora, the then DGP being the ex officio member of the empanelment committee for the selection of the post of DGP had reason to be biased against him. Mustafa's counsel had argued that the appointment process for Gupta was tailor-made.