Law & Justice

Supreme Court Questions Jharkhand DGP Appointment Process

By Dhananjay Mahapatra

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that Jharkhand’s process for appointing a Director General of Police (DGP) appears to violate the Prakash Singh judgment, which requires consideration of officers with at least six months of remaining tenure for the top police post. The court issued a notice to Tadasha Singh, who was appointed to the post a day before her retirement. In a case filed by the Centre alleging that the state’s DGP appointment regulation exceeded the court’s judgment, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said, “In the event of the regulation being annulled, the appointment of Tadasha Mishra… would be required to be set aside. Therefore, we deem it appropriate to accord her one opportunity of being heard, for which Jharkhand govt is directed to serve notice on her to enable her to appear.” The Supreme Court further directed Jharkhand to “revisit” the Selection and Appointment of DGP (Head of Police Force) Regulations, 2025, and noted that the state could defend the regulation by filing a counter‑affidavit. The Centre, through SG Tushar Mehta, explained that the regulation was amended in 2025 to remove the residual tenure requirement and that two DGP appointments were made even though the officers had days left before retirement. Jharkhand, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, criticized the Centre for selectively targeting the state, noting that many other states have provisions that conflict with the Prakash Singh judgment’s mandate.